Ratchet and Clank Future: The White Tigress
by Hyena with a Pen
Summary: Not long after the Great Clock, Ratchet stumbles upon a friend he never thought he'd meet. Now it's up to them to save the universe from a strange force spoken of only in ancient Lombax legends...before it's too late. First in my Shadows Of Time trilogy.
1. Chapter 1: An Unlikely Encounter

Since the first version of this chapter turned out to be a bit…unsatisfactory…I decided to rewrite it! This may or may not lead to me rewriting the rest of the four chapters I had done, merely for the simple fact that I'm not quite satisfied with much of what I have so far. Even so, I want everyone's honest opinion on every chapter. J

Here we go, hopefully this time it'll be better! XD

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"Ratchet…" Clank began as they flew through space, passing various planets and moons along the way. "Are you sure you know where you are going?""Trust me, I know exactly where I'm going," he replied, looking over at his friend. "It's just…taking a little longer than I-""Watch out!" The robot pointed in front of them. He looked back to what was ahead of them; while he was looking at Clank, he hadn't realized they were about to fly straight into an asteroid. He gasped and barrel rolled to the side, just narrowly missing the asteroid. He sighed as Clank sunk down in his seat. "That was too close…" Ratchet said quietly.

"I think my hard drive just froze…" Clank sighed.

"You worry too much, pal. We'll be fine. You just relax, okay?" Clank sighed, straightened up, and closed his eyes. "Hey," Ratchet began to his friend. "Do you think we've passed that moon already?" But when he looked over to the robot, he noticed that he had already slipped into sleep mode. He smiled softly at him and shook his head. "Never mind…" he said to himself.

Clank looked around, confused as he found himself in strange surroundings. It appeared almost to be a dark cave of some sort, blue and purple crystals hanging loosely from the ceiling. "Where am I?" he asked himself.

Suddenly, three Zoni appeared in front of him, causing him to jump slightly. _The Zoni?_ he thought as the beings flew closer to him. _It has been a while…_

Then, without warning, they raised their tiny arms and zapped him, sending him a vision.

"_Clank!" Ratchet said, blocking the incoming fire with his own body, his armor reflecting most of it back at the enemies. It didn't seem to stop them, however. "Stay behind me!""But Ratchet-" the robot protested._

"_I said stay behind me!" He held his wrench out in front of him, practically daring the enemies to come closer. "Come on, you cowards!" he said. The creatures leapt forward, fangs bared at the Lombax as he prepared for the attack._

_Suddenly, someone jumped in front of him, swiping the creatures away with a glowing purple sword. "Get back, you hideous beasts!" it shouted at the attackers._

_-_

"Only she can help you now," the Zoni said as the vision ended. The three stared at Clank as he shook his head from both disbelief and dizziness. After a moment, he looked up at the Zoni. "But…what does it mean?" he asked.

"You must find it, sire," was all they said to answer his question.

"I…still do not understand…"

"You must find it!" After they spoke, they disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared before him. "Wait!" Clank exclaimed just before they were gone. "I…want to know more…"

"Get off my tail already!" Clank heard Ratchet shout as he woke up. He looked around disoriented; they were still flying through space, most likely still in circles. This time, however, when he looked over at Ratchet, he looked both angry and even a little bit scared at the same time. "Ratchet?" he asked, catching his friend's attention. "Oh…you're awake…" he said sheepishly. "You, uh…have a nice little catnap?"

"Ratchet, what is going on?" Suddenly, someone shot at Aphelion from behind. Clank looked back to find four small dark green ships and a much larger black warship trailing behind them. "Yeah, uh…that's what's going on…" Ratchet said, still trying to lose the attackers.

"What are they?" Clank asked, turning around.

"Beats me. All I know is for some reason, they want us dead." Suddenly, a transmission came in over the radio.

"Attention starship signature 3371-Alpha!" the voice said. "Surrender now! We know you know the location of the rebel, Venus!""Wait…" Ratchet said. "Venus? Rebel? What are you-""Don't play dumb with me! We've done a bioscan on your ship…Lombax! Now tell us where she is and we promise we won't kill you!""I don't even know who you're talking about! How could I possibly know where this person is?!""Being stubborn, are we? Well, we'll just have to fix that! Open fire!" He tried to dodge the incoming fire, but in vain; the enemy ships were, of course, using seeker ammo, making it all too easy to shoot the two. The missiles hit Aphelion's thrusters, causing her to plummet to the surface of the planet below.

"Ratchet, you must do something!" Clank said, looking out at the clouds as they quickly passed.

"Right. I…hope this works better than it did last time…" he began, then continued. "Aphelion, engage gravometric stabilizers!""Negative," she said. "All systems are offline…shields are down…thrusters-" She suddenly froze in the middle of her sentence. "Aphelion?!" Ratchet said.

"Running diagnostic…" Clank said. Then, he looked at Ratchet, worried. "I am…afraid she is not responding…""Just like last time…" Ratchet said. "You ready for a HALO jump?" He grabbed Clank's arm, latched him onto his back, and launched out the ejector seat as Aphelion continued to fly down, crashing near a large stone wall.

Using the helipack as they neared the ground, the two landed safely and, for the most part, unscathed. "You okay?" Ratchet asked, looking over his shoulder at Clank. "Yes…" Clank replied, nodding. "I am…fine…but we should not stay here. If those ships were so intent on catching us in space, chances are they will land and come looking for us. We must find a way off this planet." Ratchet nodded and walked forward. Where he was going, however, he didn't know.

As the Lombax walked, Clank constantly had an uneasy feeling. "Ratchet…" he began. "My sensors a picking up…someone or something following us…" Ratchet's ears perked up. "You're sure?" he asked quickly. "You're positive it's not a malfunction? It…seems pretty quiet…""I am positive it is not a malfunction." Since Clank had been so insistent, Ratchet held his wrench tightly, preparing for a possible ambush. "I really hope it _is _just a malfunction…" he said, looking cautiously at their surroundings.

"I am afraid it is not!" Clank said. "Look behind you!" His ears drooped as he cringed, thinking about what it could possibly be. _Do I even wanna know?_ he asked himself. He finally turned around to see what Clank was talking about. He jumped when he saw what was standing behind them.

There were at least seven hideous-looking creatures, similar to giant lizards with black scales and strange green markings on their bodies. Each one held either a blaster or a Constructo Bomb glove, but each one glared menacingly at the two with piercing blood-red eyes, its sharp fangs bared. "What the heck are these things?!" Ratchet exclaimed, backing away slightly.

Suddenly, one of the creatures seemed to have disappeared. Before he had time to react, it appeared before him and slashed his face, knocking him to the ground and Clank off his back. The robot landed several feet away, exposing him to the beasts. One of them saw an opportunity to be rid of him and shot its blaster at the robot.

"Clank!" Ratchet said, blocking the incoming enemy fire with his own body, his armor reflecting most of it back at the enemies. It didn't seem to stop them, however. "Stay behind me!""But Ratchet-" the robot protested.

"I said stay behind me!" He held his wrench out in front of him, practically daring the enemies to come closer. "Come on, you cowards!" he said. The creatures leapt forward, fangs bared at the Lombax as he prepared for the attack.

Suddenly, someone jumped in front of him, swiping the creatures away with a glowing purple sword. "Get back, you hideous beasts!" it shouted at the attackers.

"What the-" Ratchet relaxed a bit and looked at his defender confused. "What are you doing?!""Saving your life!" it replied, obviously female by its voice. She wore a hooded cloak, making it impossible for him to see any of her features. She stood up straight, glaring at the enemies. "And just what do you think you're doing?" she said to the leader, who in turn growled at her.

But then, his snarl turned into a smile as he spoke. "I should like to ask you the same thing…" he began.

"Venus."

Ratchet looked in shock first at the leader of the attackers, then at the cloaked figure in front of him. "Venus?" he said. She laughed slightly. "I see you've heard of me…I'm surprised," she said to the creature, lowering her hood, revealing a familiar pair of black-striped ears. He was even more surprised now. "I must say, I've never had much of a reputation outside the village."

"You're a Lombax?!" She looked over her shoulder for a second, smiling. "Can't get nothin' past you, huh?" she said, her blue eyes sparkling, standing out against the pitch-black fur around them, as the final rays of sunlight set her pure white fur aglow with a dim orange hue. She then turned back to the creatures, keeping her expression calm. "So, what is it you want with this Lombax?" she asked.

"We knew he knew your location, Venus!" the leader growled. "And we were right! Now you both shall die!""Okay, first of all, I've never even met this guy!""What? You must have!""Why? Just because we're both Lombaxes? That makes perfect sense!" She finished her sentence sarcastically and gripped her sword tighter. "How 'bout you and me finish this? One-on-one!""Whenever you're ready!" He aimed his blaster at her.

"Bring it on, Tall, Dark, and Ugly!"

The creature growled at her. "On my signal," she began to Ratchet. "get out of the way and take cover."

"What?"But before she could explain, the leader fired his blaster at her. "Now!" she said, jumping up as Ratchet grabbed Clank by the arm and jumped to the side. He looked back to the other Lombax as she landed in front of her enemy, slashing his neck with her sword. He roared in pain and tried slashing her with his sharp claws, but she quickly jumped out of the way, landed behind him, and stabbed him in the back. He roared one final time, then fell to the ground, limp and dead. "How's that for backstabbing?!" she said, grinning at her fallen enemy. She then turned to the others, who were all staring at her in fear and astonishment. "Well, what are you waiting for?!" she said, walking slowly toward them. "Get your sorry tails outta here!" The second she finished speaking, they turned and ran away screaming. Ratchet and Clank just stared at her in awe.

She turned to face them and walked over to them. "You two okay?" she asked, helping them up.

"Uh…yeah, but…" Ratchet began. "What are you doing here? And where are we anyway?"

"You seriously don't know?" she asked. They both shook their heads. "Well, I guess it doesn't really surprise me. You're on Quantos. And I've lived here all my life.""You have?"

"Yeah. I was raised by the local Fongoids. They gave me this." She showed them the necklace around her neck; a simple woven string with a large, raindrop-shaped glass bead on it. The bead was filled with some sort of blue shimmering liquid. "When they gave it to me, they said it was supposed to have some mystical qualities…I haven't yet figured out what they meant by that, and they never explained it to me.""Interesting…" Clank said. "May I see that for a moment?"

"Yeah, sure." She removed it from her neck and handed it to the robot, who examined it carefully. "As long as your friend's looking at that little trinket…" she began. "I believe proper introductions are in order." He nodded and said, "I'm Ratchet. This is Clank.""Venus Carapell, at your service," she said, bowing and grinning. He didn't respond; he just stared oddly at her, an eyebrow raised. "You can give me your honest opinion on me, ya know. I've been told repeatedly that I am a little odd…though I don't take offense to it. On the contrary; I take pride in being different!" She laughed a little as he smiled at her remarks.

"I see what it is now…" Clank said suddenly, catching the attention of the two Lombaxes. "Excuse me?" Venus said, kneeling down to look at him.

"The liquid inside of this bead has been infused with some sort of defensive Fongoid magic, it would seem." He handed it back to her. "Well, a lot of good it's done me so far," she said, putting back on her neck. "You'd be surprised what kinds of creatures are running around this jungle."

Then, they jumped as they heard a creature roar in the distance. "Uh…would that be one of them?" Ratchet said.

"No," she replied. "That sounds like more of those troops. Come on, we're not safe here." She began walking forward. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I live not too far from here," she said, turning to face the two as they slowly followed her. "We'll probably be safer there than we would be just standing here." Ratchet nodded, walking slightly faster as he latched Clank onto his back again.

"So…Venus…" he said, walking next to her. "That doesn't really sound like a Fongoid name…"

"That's because it's technically not…" she replied as she looked over at him. "If you want my Fongoid name, it's Erissa…but once I left the village, I decided to change it to Venus.""Just out of curiosity…you ever heard of someone the Fongoids around here call 'the White Tigress'?" She looked at him in slight shock as he continued. "The last time I was here a few weeks ago, they told me about someone going by that title…""They most likely meant me…" she said, grimacing. "I guess you could call me a local legend, but with Fongoids that doesn't mean much; you take out a few Zyphoids and you're instantly a hero…"

"Good point…they could've mentioned it was a Lombax, though.""They're not always the best with details…"

"I've noticed."

"Uh…Ratchet?" Clank said.

"What is it?" he asked looking over his shoulder. He jumped again and tapped Venus's shoulder. "Oh, for the love of Orvus…" she said, almost afraid to turn around. When she did, she saw what the two were looking at; yet another one of the troops. "Where are all these guys coming from?!" she said, gripping her sword. Ratchet took out his Constructo pistol and aimed it at the creature, but Venus put her hand on it and lowered it. "I got this…" she said. He noticed her sword was glowing brighter than before.

Suddenly, she swung it in the air in front of her, releasing a long stream of light and sending it flying at the troop. The attack knocked it into a tree behind it, and the stream of light coiled around him, trapping him on the tree. "Come on!" she said, turning to run away. "That won't hold him there for long!" The troop roared its protest as the two ran away as fast as they could.

"What do these things want with you anyway?!" Ratchet said as they ran.

"I'll explain everything," she replied. "I promise! Just keep moving! We're almost there!"

Reaching the top of a hill and sliding about halfway down, she looked behind her to see Ratchet slowing down as he continued. "Ratchet, hurry up!" she said. "It's right down here!" He ran up to her and asked, "So then, where is it?""Right there," she said, pointing in front of them. It wasn't much; just a small cottage with a bit of smoke raising from the chimney. She motioned for him to follow her as she walked towards the door. She opened the door as he walked inside, gasping for breath as she followed behind him.

When she got inside, she locked the door tightly, setting her sword down next to it. "You gonna be alright?" she asked Ratchet. He nodded. "Take a seat. I just need to do one thing." He sat down on the couch and looked around. The interior was just as simple as the exterior; a small living room with a kitchen attached, a fireplace near the simple furniture with a warm fire burning inside, and a staircase at the back of the room leading up to a second level, the hallway at the top leading to two different rooms on the left and right.

"I know it's not much, but we'll probably be safe here for the time being," she said, setting a couple more logs on the fire. "As long as they smell a fire instead of Lombax, they should stay away."

"Why do you say that?" Ratchet asked.

"These creatures are rather primitive; they're terrified of fire , and can't even stand the smell of it."

"So, what is it they want with you?" he said as she walked away from the fire and over to a tall bookcase. "You said you'd explain everything.""Working on it," she replied, digging through the books. "But before I tell you anything, I need to know that you won't reveal this information to anyone, not even your closest and most trusted friends. Can I trust you with this?"

"Yes," Clank said.

"Of course," Ratchet said.

"Good," she said, pulling a chair over to the bookcase and standing on top of it, still rummaging through the various titles. "Now, another thing you should know…you know the Lombaxes were once renowned engineers, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this is from long before engineering and technology even existed; back when they believed in magic and the Great Spirits." Her ears perked up suddenly. "Ah-ha! There it is!" She pulled out a maroon-covered book, its pages yellowed by the years, and brushed the dust off it. "This should explain everything," she said, taking a seat in the chair across from them. She set the book down on the table between them. It was titled simply 'Ancient Lombax Myths and Legends'. She opened it and flipped through the pages. "Why would you have that just lying around here?" Ratchet asked.

"I find history to be quite an interesting subject," she replied. She suddenly stopped flipping through the pages and said, "Here it is." She handed the book to him. On the page was a sketch of a strange heart-shaped gem. There was various information written on the page about it, mostly large words that he didn't understand. "What is this?" he asked, looking up from the page.

"It could mean the difference between life and death for everyone in the universe," she replied. "At least, from what I understand from the legend. Ancient Lombax shamans once foretold that a shadow would be cast over the Polaris Galaxy. If not stopped, it would eventually spread over the entire universe, destroying everything in its path; every planet, moon, and living thing." He looked at her in shock as she continued. "To stop this from happening, they created this. They called it the Heart of the Dragon Leviathan.""Dragon Leviathan?" Clank asked. "What is that?""It was their god; they believed it to be the creator of everything in the universe." She turned the page. On the next page, there was a sketch of a large, serpentine creature, a fiery crown upon its head. "They believed that infusing this gem with everything that is their god would be able to stop it. There's just one thing they overlooked…""What's that?" Ratchet asked, almost afraid to find out.

"Since they infused it with everything that is the Dragon Leviathan, they infused it with the gifts of life and light. But at the same time, they also infused it with the curses of death and darkness. If that gems gets into the wrong hands…it could assist the shadow along its path of destruction." Ratchet and Clank looked at each other, both in fear and slight disbelief. "Is this true…or not?" Ratchet asked.

"I'm not sure, to be totally honest," she replied, shaking her head. "But that's irrelevant. I get the feeling that whoever's commanding the troops that attacked you two will kill anyone and everyone in his path in order to find this thing. That's why I'm going after it. To stop this guy from doing any more damage than he's probably already done."

"But…how are you gonna get off this planet?" Ratchet asked.

"For the past few years, I've been finding parts of star cruisers in the jungle. I've been using them for my own ship. I finally finished it a few days ago and have been planning to leave as soon as possible.""Do you even know how to get this gem?" Clank asked. She nodded and replied, "Turn the page. That'll tell you." Ratchet did as instructed and looked at the page. There was a sketch of four amulets forming a diamond shape. In the center between the four, there was a fifth drawing, but it was faded and impossible to see. "The shamans sealed it safe in a chamber, away from anyone who would misuse it. In order to gain entry, one must possess a kind of proof; these four amulets. Each one represents one of the four basic elements; sapphire for water, emerald for earth, ruby for fire, and topaz for air. Each one is supposed to be on the planet that best represents its element; say, for example, the emerald amulet. Emerald represents earth, therefore it would be on the planet that best shows the power of earth."

"And who exactly do you plan on going with?" Clank asked.

"Well…no one," she replied. "The only friends I have are Fongoids, and it's far too dangerous for them."

"But what about a Lombax?" Ratchet said. Her ears perked up. "Wait…" she said. "You're not…saying you wanna come, are you?"

"Well, you'll need someone who's experienced in combat, and who knows this galaxy like the back of their hand. I'm just the guy you need.""I think I should just do this alone. From what I've heard from tourists…well, for most, I'm the only Lombax they've ever seen. That's all I need is to be responsible for the loss of half the universe's Lombax population. I want you two to go back to wherever it is you came from. I'm sure I can handle this alone.""I don't think so!" Ratchet said, getting up from his seat. "I've seen things you could barely even imagine. You're not doing this alone, Venus."

"But, Ratchet-""You might as well accept it," Clank said. "He is the most stubborn person I have ever met. Once his mind is made up, there is no changing it. And wherever he goes, I go."

"You two must be suicidal…" she said, shaking her head. "But if I can't talk you out of this…" She got up and looked out the window; it was already getting dark outside. "Get some rest, you two. There's a guest room up the stairs and to the left." She looked over her shoulder as she walked over to the stairs. "We leave at dawn."

"You won't mind if I just flip through this a bit more, will you?" Ratchet asked, motioning towards the book.

"No, but try to get some sleep. We'll have to leave as soon as possible." He nodded as she walked into the room on the right and closed the door behind her. For a moment, he looked in the direction she had just walked in. then, realizing that Clank had been watching him, he turned to face the robot. "What?" he said.

"Is…something the matter, Ratchet?" Clank asked. The Lombax looked thoughtful for a moment, then replied to his friend's question. "I don't know what it is…" he said. "But something seems vaguely familiar about her…something in her eyes…" Then, he shook his head and got up. "Ah, well. I'm sure it's nothing. Come on. We should try to get some rest." Clank nodded and followed his friend up the stairs and into the guest room.

Clank hopped up onto the chair next to the bed and went into sleep mode. Ratchet lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

While he was asleep, Clank had another vision.

_It was almost as if he were in some strange room, or looking in through a window. All that could be seen was two figures; one was a black silhouette, the shape of Venus, against a white background. The other, the white silhouette of Ratchet, stood out against a pitch-black background. Then, the voice of the Zoni could be heard:_

"_Her past will be revealed…"_

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This turned out a little better than the first version.

R&R! J


	2. Chapter 2: The Quest Begins

This turned out a little better than the first version.

R&R! J

Note to self:Get a life…XD

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"Ratchet? Ratchet! Please wake up!" Ratchet awoke the next morning to Clank yelling in his face and shaking him as violently as his tiny robotic arms would allow. "Clank?" he asked, holding his head in his hand as he sat up lazily. "What're you yelling about? I can't be _that _much of a heavy sleeper…"

"It is not about whether or not you are a heavy sleeper, Ratchet!" Clank said, leaping off the bed and running over to the window. "It is Venus! I believe something is wrong!" The Lombax jumped out of bed almost instantly upon hearing his friend's words and ran over to the window that Clank was pointing towards.

"Get back!" Venus shouted, keeping her sword held out in front of her. "I'm not afraid to use this thing!" In place of the cloak she wore the day before, she now wore a black suit of armor and helmet with blue highlights. The suit also had a pair of large, metal, bat-like wings extending out the back just between her shoulders. Suddenly she looked up at the guest room window to see Ratchet and Clank looking at her worried. "Sorry, boys!" she said. "Didn't mean to wake you!" Then, there was a growl and one of the troops leapt on top of her, pinning her to the ground. The only thing standing between its fangs and her face was her sword. "Venus!" Ratchet said, preparing to jump down to her aid.

"You stay right where you are!" she demanded, looking over at the two. He froze in place. "I know what I'm doing!" Looking back at the troop, still pinning her down, she swiped the sword across its jaw. It roared in pain and finally released her as it jumped back. She quickly jumped up and ran toward it. Delivering one final blow, she stabbed the troop's chest, piercing its heart as the sword protruded through to it back. Four more troops lunged at her, but she kept them at bay with the same stream of light from her sword that she had used the day before.

She looked back at the two. "We have to get out of here!" she said, turning to run away. "Come on! Follow me!" He nodded and, latching Clank onto his back, jumped out the window and ran after her. "Where are you going now?!" he said, finally catching up to her.

"We have to get off this planet!" she said. "If we don't, those things will destroy everything just to get to me!" Then, she looked ahead, gasped, and slid to a stop. When Ratchet looked in front of them, he did the same. Standing in front of them were several more troops; the only difference between these troops and the ones before was that these were much larger and looked much more dangerous. Venus looked behind them to find more of the smaller troops preventing them from running the opposite way. The two Lombaxes stood back-to-back, Venus gripping her sword, Ratchet grasping his wrench, and both of them glaring at the enemies. "I just pray you're as good at fighting as you claim to be, Hotshot!"

Ratchet laughed and said, "Watch and learn, Snowball."

"Don't get cocky. These guys are pretty tough." Just then, one of them prepared to leap at the two. But before it did, everything around them froze in place, including the troop jumping at them. Venus's ears drooped and she looked around curiously. Then suddenly, three balls of blinding light appeared in front of them; the two shielded their eyes and turned away. When the light finally dimmed, they turned to find three Zoni floating in front of them. Ratchet and Clank looked plainly at them; Venus stared in utter astonishment. "Are these the Zoni?" she said. Ratchet nodded. "It's…kind of a long story…" he said.

"You must hurry!" they said. "We can fix your ship, sire."

"Sire?!" Venus said, turning to Ratchet.

"It's not me, it's Clank!" he replied, getting ready to run away. "I'll explain later! Come on!" She nodded as they ran off, the Zoni trailing close behind them. As they ran, Ratchet noticed Venus pressing a glowing blue button on her right glove. It beeped and she spoke into it. "Atrion!" she said. "Meet me outside the Fongoid village as soon as you can!" After that, it beeped again and she lowered her hand. "What was that all about?!" Ratchet said.

"I didn't have time to get my ride before we had to get going," she said with a smile. "I'm picking up something on my nav unit just in front of the Fongoid village. I think it might be your ship." She looked ahead of them; they were nearing the stone wall in front of the village. She was right; there, lying in ruins, was a destroyed Aphelion, right in front of the wall. By the time they reached her, a black Lombaxian ship had just come in to land next to her. The cockpit to the ship opened and Venus leapt inside.

"I thought you said you built your ship!" Ratchet said, running up to the side of the ship.

"I did," she said, preparing to take off. "That doesn't mean to say I didn't style it after an authentic Lombax ship." She looked down and pressed several buttons before speaking again. "I've keyed into your nav unit. Radio me as soon as you've cleared the planet's surface! Got it?"

"Got it," Ratchet replied, walking over to his ruined ship, the Zoni following close behind.

"Good! I'll lead them away. You two just get out of here alive!" And with that, the ship rose into the air and shot off into space. Ratchet looked from the sky over to the three Zoni. "You guys know what to do," he said.

"We must fix the ship!" the Zoni said, surrounding her in a strange blue light. Once the light dimmed and the two saw that Aphelion had been repaired, the Zoni disappeared, and Ratchet jumped into the open cockpit, setting Clank in the passenger seat. The cockpit closed as they took their seats.

"Uh…Ratchet?" Clank said, his eyes wide with terror as Ratchet looked down, pressing various buttons preparing to leave. "What?" He looked up and jumped in his seat.

One of the troops had leapt onto the hood of the ship and was now growling and roaring at the windshield, setting a fine spray of saliva on it. Ratchet yelped and blasted off as fast as he possibly could, sending the troop flying off the ship. It got up and roared as it saw them leaving the planet.

"I just hope Venus's alright…" Ratchet said, calling her on the radio as they shot through the Phylax sector.

--

"Come on!" Venus said, maneuvering Atrion through an asteroid field. "Bring it on, you ugly-""Pardon the interruption," came the robotic sound of Atrion's voice. "But I am receiving a transmission from starship signature 3371-Alhpa.""Ratchet. Put him through!" Atrion did as she was told, and Venus heard his voice on the radio.

"Venus?" he said. "Are you okay?"

"I'd like to ask you two the same thing!" she said, dodging several more asteroids. "You two made it out unharmed?""Yeah, but…where are you?"

She was about to answer when another ship shot at her. She looked into the rearview mirror to find, along with several of the smaller dark green ships, a huge gray ship, still firing its blasters at her. "Hey!" she said. "Shoot at someone your own size!"

"Venus, what's going on?!" Ratchet demanded. Venus's ears perked up as she saw an opportunity to be rid of the larger ship and the smaller ones; an asteroid much larger than the rest, just in front of her. "Hold that thought one second, okay?" she said, speeding up and flying toward the asteroid. The ships sped up in order to keep up with her. Just before coming in contact with the asteroid, Venus pulled up, narrowly avoiding it. The other ships, however, were not so fortunate; from behind her, she could hear the sounds of the fiery explosion caused by her pursuers crashing into.

"Venus, I seriously think I'm gonna have a heart attack if you don't tell me what the heck is going on and where the heck you are!" Ratchet shouted as he heard the explosion.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!' she replied, leaving the asteroid field. "That explosion was from the enemy ships flying straight into one huge asteroid!" She laughed and continued: "Oh, what a rush! I should've left that dump a long time ago!"

"Venus, listen to me," Ratchet said. "Where are you?"

"I'm nearing the Phylax Depot," she replied.

"All right. I'll meet you there as soon as I can. Might as well get you another weapon other than that sword of yours.""Right…" she said, her ears drooping as she looked pathetically at her sword, which she had set down in the passenger seat. "I'll meet you there. Venus out."

She landed the ship softly at the depot, opened up the cockpit, and leapt out, looking around her. "Can I help you, miss?" came a voice behind her. She turned around to find two Vullards standing behind a counter in what almost appeared to be a garage. "Were you in the market for something?" one of them asked her.

"I don't have any money…" she said, walking over to the counter. "but I guess it wouldn't hurt to look…"

"Well," the other Vullard began. "This is a rare sight indeed; a Lombax! I haven't seen one here since-""Brother!" the first Vullard said. "She wants to see what we have! She doesn't want to hear stories of our past!"

"Of course, of course." his brother began, walking back to a shelf displaying a few weapons and photos of some sort. "If you're looking for a beginner's weapon," he said. "I'd suggest the classic Constructo pistol; perfect for any occasion!"

"Do you have anything with a little more…firepower?" she asked.

"Daring, aren't we?" the Vullard said. "If it's power you're looking for, we've got just the thing; the newest from GrummelNet!" He picked up a light blue launcher of some sort. "They took the CryoMine Glove and decided to upgrade it even more! Say hello to the CryoMine Launcher! This weapon launches CryoMines with an even farther detection area and five times the freezing power!

"Or if you're looking to upgrade your ship's weapons," he continued, walking over to some of the photos on the wall. "We've got everything you need right here! For missiles, we have the perfect upgrade; the newest in space combat technology. Our new CryoMissiles are just the thing for when you're being hopelessly outnumbered by enemies. Just shoot one into a group, and it'll freeze them all at once!"

"What about blasters?"

"Ah, yes. If you need blasters, might I suggest the Proton Cutters? A personal favorite of intergalactic hero Ratchet!"_Huh? _Venus tilted her head to the side as she thought. _Intergalactic hero?_ Just then, she heard a ship behind her. She turned around to find Ratchet landing Aphelion next to Atrion. She walked over to the side of the ship as he jumped out, Clank leaping out after him. "There you guys are!" she said. "You didn't run into any trouble, did you?"

"No, not really," he replied. "Just a few enemy ships, not a lot. And anyway, it didn't take much to shoot 'em down." He walked over to the Vullards. "Ah, Ratchet!" the first Vullard said. "It's been too long, my friend!"

"I couldn't agree more," Ratchet replied.

"I was just showing this young Lombax what we have to offer." He knew the Vullard was talking about Venus and turned to face her as she walked up to him. He smiled and turned back to the Vullards. "Do us both a favor," he began, placing some bolts on the counter. "Upgrade her ship's weapons. Proton Cutters _and _CryoMissiles."

"Ratchet!" Venus said. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm doing you a favor, that's for sure!" he said, turning around. "I'm sure there was a reason why you didn't just shoot those enemies down, right? A reason why you flew through an asteroid field just to lose them?" Her ears drooped as she looked away. "Maybe…" she said sheepishly.

"Exactly."

"Well…still, why would you spend your hard-earned bolts on me?! You hardly even know me!"

"You saved my hide back on Quantos," he replied, turning back again to the Vullards. "It's the least I could do."

"We'll get right to work on those upgrades!" one of them said.

"I'll also take that CryoMine Launcher, too." As one Vullard leapt over the counter and ran towards Atrion with a wrench in hand, his brother grabbed a CryoMine Launcher and handed it to Ratchet, who then handed it to Venus. "That'll do more damage than that sword of yours," he said, walking back to Aphelion. She looked at him, both shocked and slightly offended, and walked back to Atrion as the two Vullards worked on installing the new weapons.

"So, where are we gonna start looking for those amulets?" Ratchet asked, the both of them sitting on the hoods of their ships.

"First of all, something I forgot to mention before," she replied. "It's not gonna be easy to find them. Two are here in the Breegus System…but the other two are somewhere back in Polaris.""Which two are supposed to be here?" Clank asked.

"Topaz and sapphire. So we'll have to look in places that best represents air and water." Ratchet drifted off in his own thoughts as she spoke. As he stared into her clear blue eyes, he once again got the feeling that he knew her from somewhere; he just couldn't remember where, but there was definitely something familiar about her.

"Ratchet, are you listening?" she said as she noticed his deep-in-though expression. Her words snapped him out of his thoughts. "Uh…" he began. "Could you repeat that?" Venus sighed and said, "All I said was that I was thinking we should start with the topaz. I have a pretty good idea as to where that one might be; it's the sapphire that's gonna be difficult to figure out.""Where were you thinking of starting then?"

"Think about it. What's the one planet you can think of off the top of your head that best represents air?" Ratchet thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Vapedia!" Venus said. "There's always been creatures there that live most of their lives in the air! Some of them never even saw ground before they died!"

"Of course," Ratchet said. "When you put it like that, it makes enough sense."

"There's just one problem…"

"Of course there is…what is it this time?"

"I've heard rumors that a powerful creature guards the amulet. Killing it to get to it won't be so easy."

"I'm sure we can handle it."

"You're way too confident, you know that?"

"So I've been told." She shook her head and sighed, then looked down at the Vullards as they continued to work. "Sorry if I seem demanding," she began. "but are you two almost done?"

"Don't worry, miss," one of them said. "We just need to attach a few more bolts."

"You two might wanna hurry up on that," Ratchet said, looking to his right. Venus looked at him puzzled, then followed his gaze. Approaching the depot was about half a dozen more of the dark green ships. Venus sighed and said, "Just my luck…" She looked back at Ratchet and Clank as the two leapt back into Aphelion. "What are you doing now?!" she said as he started up the ship.

"Listen, Venus," he began. "I'll lead them away and meet you on Vapedia outside the Valkyrie citadel! Get there as soon as you can!"

"Ratchet, wait!" But he didn't listen; by the time she spoke, the cockpit had already closed and he had blasted off. For a moment, she just stared up at the stars in his direction. After that, she finally spoke:

"Idiot!"

She looked back at the two Vullards, now working as fast as they could to attach the bolts, then looked back at the stars as the ships changed their course and chased after Ratchet. "I swear…" she began. "If those troops don't kill him by the time I see him again, I will…"

"Done!" She turned to face the Vullards. "You're all set to go!"

"Thanks, you two!" she said, leaping into her ship.

"Good luck on your journey, Lombax!"

"And don't call me that. I got a name; it's Venus Carapell! Remember it!"

"Perhaps we'll see you again someday." She looked down at the two and smiled. "You can be sure of that," she said. "All right, Atrion. Let's fly!" And before the Vullards knew it, she had taken off into the sky.

"Wonder what it was those two were talking about…" the first Vullard said.

"Oh, what does it matter to us?" his brother replied, walking back to the garage. "It's not like it'll kill us or anything!""Yeah, that's true!"

--

_For the love of Orvus, Ratchet…_Venus thought, shooting through the Phylax sector in search of the other Lombax. _Please don't do anything stupid…_

"Incoming transmission from starship signature 3371-Alpha," Atrion said.

"Thank heaven! Put him through!"

"Hey, Venus. You all right?" she heard Ratchet's voice say."I should be the one asking _you _that!" she replied. "What were you thinking?! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"I'm not gonna argue with you about this. The important thing right now is that we both get to Vapedia alive. I've uploaded coordinates to the Bernilius Sector to your ship. Meet me there as soon as you can. Ratchet out.""Wait a minute-" He had already begun radio silence before she spoke. "I am _so _gonna kill him now! Atrion, warp us to the Bernillius Sector immediately!""Affirmative," came the ship's robotic voice as she warped off. As they flew, Venus spoke one sentence to herself.

"Those troops will be the last thing you'll need to worry about when I get to Vapedia, you moron!"

* * *

I repeat; I need a life…XP

R&R, plz! =D=D=D


	3. Chapter 3: Guardian of the Skies

No comment…mainly because I'm a little tired right now…

Enjoy! ^.^

* * *

Night had fallen around the Valkyrie citadel as Ratchet and Clank awaited Venus's arrival, Ratchet lying on the hood of Aphelion and Clank sitting in the passenger seat under the open windshield. All that could be heard was the mournful sounds of the whale-like creatures that flew around them, even now at this late hour. "Hey, Clank," Ratchet began, looking behind him at the robot. "How long have we been waiting?""It is going on about half an hour," Clank replied. The Lombax looked at his friend surprised. "I am beginning to worry about Venus…" the robot continued. Ratchet nodded and said, "Yeah, me too." He then leapt into the driver seat. "Hang on. I'll radio her." He called her and put her on visual; she looked angered and afraid for some reason. "I so don't have time for this!" she said, steering Atrion sharply to the left.

"Venus?" Ratchet said, catching her attention. She looked down at the screen. "How did you-" she said, but then shook her head. "Never mind. You two make it to Vapedia okay?"

"Yeah, but where are you? We've been waiting for you for a while now." She was about to answer when it was evident that someone or something had shot at her ship; the blow had jerked her forward, causing her to nearly hit her head on the steering wheel. "What the heck was that?!" Ratchet said.

"Uh…" she grimaced. "I ran into a bit of trouble while traveling to Vapedia…" Then came the robotic voice of Atrion: "Thruster power is at 53 percent. Shields offline.""That's it. I'm comin'!"

"Ratchet, please. I can handle this!""I'm not convinced. I'll be there as soon as I can. Ratchet out.""Ratchet, don't you even-" He cut her off and ended the conversation, starting up the thrusters and shooting off into space.

"Ratchet?" Venus said, still looking down at her screen. "Ratchet, you'd better not have hung up on me again!" But the only thing to be seen and heard on the screen was static. "He hung up on me again!" she said, flipping the switch to turn the screen off. "He'll be lucky if I don't skin him alive!"

"Ratchet…" Clank said as they neared Venus's position. "Are you sure we should do this? I am sure she could have handled it…"

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid…" he began, rolling his eyes. "but I'm pretty sure they'll shoot her right out of the sky if we don't hurry." Clank nodded and looked forward. Just ahead of them was what appeared to be an army of the dark green ships, each of them firing at someone. The two of them noticed that there, caught in the middle of all the shots, was the black Lombaxian ship. He contacted her once again, this time on audio only.

"Venus, are you okay?" he asked, shooting several of the ships in front of her.

"I'm fine, Ratchet!" she responded, her voice clearly marked with frustration. "Which is why you should get your tail out of here! I'll meet you on Vapedia!""I don't think so! I'm helping you out with this one, Snowball!"

"Ratchet, please. I-" She was cut off when another ship shot at her thrusters, jerking her forward again. "Thruster power is at 27 percent," Atrion said.

"Atrion," Venus said to the ship. "You're not helping the situation here." Then, she noticed Ratchet flying in front of her as the enemies shot at her again. "What are you doing now, you psycho?!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" he replied. "I'm saving your tail!" She was about to ask him what he meant when some sort of shield suddenly surrounded Aphelion just as the shots neared them. The shield reflected them back at the enemies, destroying most of them. After that, he turned the ship around, attached a tether to Atrion, and flew off as fast as he could for Vapedia.

"Ratchet," Venus began as they neared Vapedia. "I've said it before and I'll say it again; you are _suicidal_! You're gonna get yourself killed because of me!"

"I'm suicidal for saving a fellow Lombax now, huh?" Ratchet said. He waited a moment for a response, but when there was none, he sighed and continued. "Listen, Venus. Other than you, I've only met one other Lombax in my life. And he gave his own life to save the universe. After that, I felt so alone…like nothing in my life would ever turn out right." She gasped as he finished: "I don't want to feel that again. Like it or not, I'll defend you with my life."

"Ratchet…" was all she could think to say.

"Never mind. I'm just glad you're okay." After a few moments, they landed back in front of the citadel. As Ratchet disengaged the tether, Venus leapt out of her ship and turned to face him.

"You need any help fixing your ship?" Ratchet asked as the two jumped out of Aphelion.

"Are you kidding?" she replied. "I built it from scratch. I'm pretty sure I can fix a simple problem with the thrusters. Mind handing me your Omniwrench?" He nodded and gave her the wrench. "It shouldn't take me long," she said after taking the wrench and walking over to Atrion. She crawled about halfway into the thruster, her tail swishing as she worked.

"So, can you tell what's wrong with it?" Ratchet asked, leaning on Aphelion as he watched her.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, her voice echoing out the thruster. "It looks like the enemy fire disconnected the main fuel line. I should be able to reattach it in a minute or two." Then, after a moment, a black cloud of exhaust burst out of the thruster, obviously straight into Venus's face. She coughed as she crawled back out of it, her face now blackened with exhaust. She glared over at Ratchet as he struggled to muffle his laughter.

"You find this amusing, do you?" she smiled, shoving the Omniwrench back at him. "Laugh all you want. You got a rag in that ship of yours?" He nodded and grabbed a rag out of Aphelion.

"Venus," Clank said as she wiped off her face. "Where are we supposed to start looking for this amulet?"

"Yeah, where _do _we start?" Ratchet asked. She finally took her face out of the cloth and turned to face the two. "Well, I'm picking up a strange energy signature on my nav unit," she said. "Off to the east…right over there." She pointed to the east, beyond the cliff. But there was nothing in sight. The three of them walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down. "It's just a straight drop to certain death…" Ratchet said.

Suddenly, the cliff crumbled out from under Venus's foot. Just in time, Ratchet grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. She looked from him down to the crumbled rock, still falling down to the ground below. "Either that is one weak cliff," she began, her ears drooping. "or I need to lose some weight…"

"I'm pretty sure it's the cliff…" he said. "Are you sure there's anything over there? It doesn't really look like there is." She walked away from the cliff and sighed. "I don't know," she said. "There may be something wrong with my nav unit…but for now, it's the only lead we've got. We might as well follow it.""How do you suggest we do that?"

"Do you trust me?" She extended her hand towards him and smiled. "Huh?" he said.

"Do you trust me?" she repeated. He was hesitant, but after a moment, he said, "…Yes…" and took her hand. She suddenly pulled him close to her. "Then hang on tight!" she said, running to the edge of the cliff.

"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed. Before she answered, she leapt off the ledge and down into the abyss. "And you're calling _me _suicidal?!"

Then suddenly, she spread the wings on her back and pulled up. Venus laughed as Ratchet and Clank both screamed. Then, Ratchet's screams turned to laughter as well as she dodged the various creatures flying about, as well as the towers of the citadel. "How are you doing this?!" he said, still laughing and obviously enjoying the flight.

"You think the wings are just for decoration?!" she replied. "Just hang on! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders as she dodged yet another one of the creatures. "How far is it?" Ratchet asked.

"It's not far now," she replied, looking down at him. "But Orvus knows that wherever it is will be heavily guarded. We'll need to be careful.""I'll say! Look alive!" He pointed in front of them, obvious fear in his voice. She looked ahead and saw what he was talking about; directly in front of them was a tall silver tower. The entrance was visible, however it was clearly blocked off; a powerful whirlwind raged around the entire tower, making it nearly impossible to get into it. She gasped and came to a sudden stop, hovering about a hundred feet away from it.

"How are we supposed to get in there?" Ratchet said. Venus looked thoughtful for a moment, then her ears perked up. "Do you, by any chance, have anything on you that would give us an extra boost?" she asked.

"Well…I've got a pair of hoverboots…""Perfect!" She prepared to fly off again. "On my signal, engage those hoverboots of yours, got it?" He nodded, understanding her idea. "But what's the signal?" he asked.

"Now!" She suddenly flew forward as fast as she could. He gasped and activated the hoverboots, giving them just the thrust they needed. "Hang on!" Venus said, shielding her face from the flying debris as they flew closer and closer to the whirlwind.

"Let's hope this works!" Ratchet said.

Venus made it to the entrance; however, Ratchet lost his grip in the whirlwind and accidentally let go of her. "Ratchet!" she shouted as she watched him being thrown around the tower with the debris. "No!" Then, he grabbed one of the pillars near the doorway. Using her wings to grasp the doorway, she leaned forward and reached for him. "Take my hand!" she said. His hand was just a couple inches from hers, but he couldn't extend it any farther. "I can't reach!" he said. Without even thinking, she leapt forward, grabbed his hand, and flapped her wings, launching the two of them back to the doorway. Venus landed on her back, Ratchet landing on his side next to her. "You okay?" she asked, looking over at him as she got up.

"Yeah…" he replied. She gave him her hand and helped him up. "That was more fun than I ever wanna have again…" Venus said. Ratchet laughed weakly. "Chances are, you're gonna be experiencing that kind of stuff a lot if you're gonna be hangin' around with me," he said as the two walked to the doorway. It was closed tight and locked. Venus tried pushing on it, but in vain; it wouldn't budge. "Great," she sighed. "There's no way we're getting through this without two-dozen acid bombs!" Ratchet then noticed something on the door. "Venus…" he said, tapping her shoulder. "Look." She followed his gaze and saw what he was talking about; an indentation in the door shaped like a hand. Under the indentation, there was something written in Lombax.

"What does this say?" Ratchet asked, studying the writing carefully.

"You can't read Lombax?" Venus asked. He shook his head and looked over at her. "Why?" he asked. "Can you?"

"Naturally." She nudged him out of the way and studied the writing. He looked curiously from the writing to Venus. "So?" he asked. "What does it say?"

She replied, "It says, 'Only the pure of heart may enter here'…" She stroked the writing with her right hand, then looked curiously back at the indentation. _I wonder…_she thought. She placed her hand gently into the indentation. When nothing happened after a moment, she thought it wouldn't open and tried to remove her hand. "Uh…Ratchet…" she said. He looked over at her again. "What?" he asked.

"I can't get it out!"

Are you serious?!" Then suddenly, the indentation glowed with an incandescent yellow light. Streams of light snaked there way on the entire doorway, creating what almost appeared to be ancient runes. She pushed on the door with her feet, trying to free her hand. After a moment, she got her hand free; she fell hard on her back as her hand was released. She sat up and shook her head, then looked back at the doorway. The door stuck for a moment, then opened slowly. Ratchet looked in shock at Venus as she got up. "Pure of heart?" he said. She looked at him and shrugged. "All that matters right now is that we get that amulet," she said, walking through the door as he followed. "But use caution…it's too quiet here." He nodded as they walked through a long, dark hallway.

She took out her sword to light their way as they walked, setting everything around them aglow with a dim purple light. "Do you really think it's there?" Ratchet asked.

"Who knows?" she replied. "I don't know if any of this Lombax legend is true or not. But even if there's just a chance that the heart really does exist, we need to get to it before it falls into the wrong hands." He nodded in agreement. Then, his ears perked up; there was light pouring down from and entrance in the ceiling in front of them, a ladder leading up to it. The two ran towards it and noticed how old the ladder looked. "I'm not sure I trust this thing…" Ratchet said.

"Which is why I'm not using it," Venus said, flapping her wings and hovering in the air below the hole in the ceiling. "Grab onto my foot," she said. "I'll take us up." He nodded and took hold of her foot as she flew slowly and cautiously upward.

"Ratchet. Venus," Clank said from Ratchet's back.

"What's up, tin man?" Venus asked, looking down at the two.

"Well…I am not entirely sure…but there is something up there. My sensors are picking up an extremely powerful being just ahead of us.""Well, that makes me feel loads better." She looked back up; they were nearing the next floor. "If that's the case, you two better get ready for the fight of your lives." She flew up out of the hole and set the two on the ground as she landed. She held onto her sword tightly and looked at Ratchet. "I hope you've got some halfway decent weapons on you, Ratch," she said. Then, she looked around them in awe; they were now in another long hallway, the walls a golden yellow color. Every ten feet or so on either side of the hallway, there was a stone Lombax statue with shimmering topaz eyes. On the ceiling, yellow crystals hung like stalactites, glowing with a mystical energy, giving the entire hallway a dim yellow light.

"Come on," she said, walking forward. "We can admire this later. We've gotta get this thing before that creature shows up." Ratchet nodded and followed her down the hall.

After a few moments, they noticed a large room at the end of the hallway. Light poured in from a hole in the ceiling. On the other side of the room, the hall continued on to another locked door. "Be careful, you two," Venus said, walking slightly ahead of them. "I don't like this…"Then, the second they entered the room, both doorways closed tightly, sealing them inside. "What the heck's going on now?!" Ratchet said.

Suddenly, a whirlwind appeared in front of them, staying there for a few moments. Once it died down, they saw a huge, golden-yellow creature resembling a giant bird. It glared at the two with piercing yellow eyes as it flapped its wings furiously. Then, a voice echoed around them; it was obviously the creature's voice, but its mouth didn't move. _YOU WANT THE AMULET? _it said.

"Where's-" Ratchet began. Venus cut him off and spoke: "It's speaking using telepathy!" The creature then continued: _FINE. BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO PROVE YOUR WORTH FIRST…BY DEFEATING ME! MANY HAVE TRIED…SO FAR, NONE HAVE SUCCEEDED! CAN YOU BE THE FIRST?_ Ratchet and Venus glared at it as it stared at the two. _SHOW ME YOUR TRUE POWER! _

Then, it shrieked and leapt forward. "Get out of the way!" Venus said, shoving Ratchet aside. She jumped away just as the creature landed where she stood. She jumped on the creature's head and held onto its horns as it thrashed about in an attempt to shake her off. "Ratchet!" she said as he got up. "I could use a hand here!" He nodded and took out a tiny gun resembling a laser from an old sci-fi movie. "Are you serious?! What do you expect to do with that pathetic little thing?!"

"Venus, just get down off that thing!" he said, shooting the gun at the creature. She looked puzzled for a moment, but when she looked upward, she saw a portal to another dimension with several dozen tentacles flopping around out of it, as well as an eye. She yelped and jumped off the creature just as one of the tentacles struck it. "What the heck is that?!" she said, landing next to Ratchet.

"Say hello to Fred," he said.

"Uh…Fred?"

"Never mind. Just attack that thing!" He then pulled out the Alpha Cannon and charged it up. She nodded and ran toward the creature. Her sword glowing as she attacked, she jumped up and slashed its left eye. It shrieked in pain and grabbed her in its beak, clamping down on her ribs. "Ratchet!" she managed to say. "Help!"

He aimed the Alpha Cannon at the creature's chest and fired. It shrieked again and released her as its chest bled from the shot. She fell hard to the ground, her breathing heavy and her ears drooped as she struggled to get up. "Venus!" Ratchet said, running to her side.

"Ratchet, forget about me!" she coughed. "I'll be fine! Finish it…now!" He looked concerned for her for a moment, then nodded and charged up the Alpha Cannon again. _IMPOSSIBLE! _the creature said, falling limply to the ground. _I CANNOT BE BEATEN! I WILL NOT DIE!_

"I don't wanna do this," Ratchet said, aiming the gun at it. "I know you're just guarding something very important. But we need this to stop the universe's destruction!" The creature looked up at the Lombax curiously. _I CAN TELL BY THE LOOK IN YOUR EYES, LOMBAX…_it said. _YOUR INTENTIONS ARE WITHOUT MALICE. YOU MERELY WISH TO STOP THE LOMBAX LEGEND FROM COMING TRUE, IS THIS CORRECT?_ Ratchet nodded. _YOU NEEDN'T KILL ME TO DO SO…YOU MERELY NEED THE GUARDIAN'S PERMISSION TO PASS._

"Huh?"

_YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION! MAY YOU SUCCEED IN YOUR JOURNEY…_The creature glowed brilliantly and disappeared into nothing but a ball of light. _…AND FULFILL YOUR DESTINY! _The ball of light flew towards Venus and disappeared into the bead on her necklace. She looked down at it as it glowed dimly with a yellow light. He looked back down at her, giving her his hand. "Are you alright, Venus?" he asked as she staggered toward the door. She nodded as the door opened, revealing the end of the hallway and the door to another room. "Come on," she said. "Let's go." He nodded and followed her out of the room.

When they got to the door at the end of the hall, they noticed another hand-shaped indentation on it. Venus placed her hand in it the way she had before. The door opened after a moment, revealing a dimly-lit room with a huge window in the back. In the middle of the room, there was a shaft of light in a glass cylinder. Something was floating inside of it, shining a brilliant yellow color; they couldn't tell what it was. The two walked slowly and cautiously into the room, staring at the cylinder. "How are we-" Ratchet began.

"I'm thinking this button might have something to do with opening it…" Venus cut him off, pointing to a small red button behind the cylinder. He nodded and grimaced as she pressed it. The glass was lifted into the air and the light emitting from the object dimmed, allowing them to see it; there, suspended in the air, was the golden-chained topaz amulet. Underneath it, they noticed something written in Lombax. "What's this one say?" Ratchet asked.

"Ya know, I really should teach you how to read Lombax…" she said, studying the writing. "It says, 'Your quest is far from over; three amulets remain. You have the strength to move on, and end the suffering and pain'."

"So the ancient Lombaxes were poets?" Ratchet said. Venus shook her head and sighed. "A lot of their legends were rhymes," she said, taking the amulet. "But more of that some other time. Let's just-" She was cut off when part of the ceiling suddenly broke down and fell right next to her. They looked up and saw that the entire ceiling was collapsing. "Great…" she said. "This whole place is gonna crumble!" She ran over to the window and, taking her sword, broke the glass. She then gave Ratchet her hand. "Come on, Ratch," she said. "Let's fly!" He nodded and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she leapt out the window, flying back to Aphelion and Atrion.

Setting Ratchet down on the ground below her, she landed in between their two ships. "You sure you're all right?" Ratchet asked, walking over to Aphelion. "That thing looked like it was gonna crush you.""It probably would've if you hadn't been there, Ratch…" she said, not looking at him as Atrion's cockpit opened and she jumped in. Then, she looked down at him and said, "Thanks. I haven't even known you for two days and I already owe you my life…that's saying something." He looked at her, puzzled for a moment, then smiled at her and nodded. "It's just a good thing I met you, Ve…" he said, leaping into Aphelion. "I thought I'd never meet another Lombax…but now, I have hope again. Hope of finding the other Lombaxes."

She nodded in agreement. "But right now, our main concern is the heart, right?" she said. He nodded. "Good. Now, don't let it worry you, but I'm picking up hostile ships not far from us, so I think we should get off this planet. Keep in contact with me though, okay? I'll need your help with trying to figure out where the sapphire amulet is." He nodded as her ship rose into the air and shot off into space. He closed the windshield back down and followed her off the planet.

Elsewhere, in the Corvus Sector…

Two of the black troops walked slowly down the hall of the warship, each wearing an expression of fear on his face. "What're we gonna tell him?" one of them asked.

"I don't know…" the other replied. "Maybe if we just explain that it wasn't our fault-"

"Not our fault?!" The first troop glared at his partner. "He assigned us this duty! We failed our mission! And you're saying it's not our fault?!" His partner swallowed hard, then looked back in front of him; they were nearing the end of the hallway…and the huge door that was there. He sighed and, looking back at the other troop, said, "It's been nice working with you…"

He nodded and knocked on the door. "S-sir?" he stammered as the two waited for the door to open. Nothing happened for a while. The troop knocked again. "Sir, please…we have a s-status update on the rebel…" The door creaked open, revealing a huge, dark room. At the back of the room, a tall dark figure sat behind a desk, glaring with bright red eyes at the two. "What do you two want?" he asked impatiently; he obviously hadn't heard what the troop had said before entering the room.

"S-sir…" he began. "A-about the rebel…"

"You've destroyed her?" the figure asked. When the troops didn't respond, he stood up. "Well?"

"S-s-sir, sh-she managed to…e-escape…" The two troops cringed, awaiting their punishment.

"And the commander?"

"Th-the rebel has killed him, sir. She was…defending the other Lombax-"

"Other Lombax?!" The figure slammed his hands down on the desk in front of him. "I thought the rebel was the last one!"

"W-we found one more…just outside of Quantos…the commander shot his ship down, but when we went to the crash site, he wasn't there. We followed his scent and eventually caught up with him. But before our commander could kill him, the rebel jumped in and stopped him. After killing him, she told the rest of us to leave…"

"Unacceptable!" the figure roared, outraged at their failure. "I handpicked you all! You were my finest troops! And you let her go! And not just that, we now have _another _Lombax to deal with!" He turned around for a moment. The two troops looked at each other, frightened. Then suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut, and the figure turned around, holding up a large black laser gun. The troops shrieked as they prepared for what came next.

"You two have failed me for the last time!" he said, firing it at them. The gun released a red laser beam at them, instantly incinerating them both before they had time to react. He stared down at the pile of ashes across the room for a moment. Then, he looked back at the door as someone else knocked. He sighed and pressed a button behind him, allowing another troop to enter. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the smoldering pile of ashes in front of him, then looked back at the figure. "Is…this a bad time, sir?" he asked.

"At this point," he began his response. "any time is a bad time. Now, what do you want?""I've just received word that the rebel Venus has retrieved to topaz amulet, sir," he said. The figure growled as he continued. "If we don't stop her soon, she will find the heart." Then, the figure's eyes brightened. "Sir, we must kill her now."

"No…" the figure said. "I have a better idea…" He turned around, picked up a large red blaster, and threw it at the troop in front of him. The troop looked down as it slid to his feet, then looked back up at the figure. "I'm putting you in charge of my troops now. I just want you to do one thing for me. And you can't fail me."

"Of course, sir. Anything." The figure turned around and faintly smiled at the troop.

"Keep a close eye on those two…they may be of some use to us in the future…"

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I love writing this stuff. That's all I'm gonna say. :)


	4. Chapter 4: The Loss of a Friend

Wow…never thought I'd get more than one or two faves for this! Thank you all so much! :)

This series should move along pretty smoothly, considering the fact that I have pretty much the entire trilogy planned out already (is that pathetic or what! XP).

Enjoy! R&R! =D

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"Wow…" Venus said quietly as she piloted Atrion through the Bernilius Sector, Aphelion flying not far from her. "So…all that really happened?" She had been talking with Ratchet and Clank over the radio for some time now. The two had been telling her what had happened not so long ago; after the defeat of Percival Tachyon, the Zoni taking Clank away from the Apogee Space Station, Ratchet's two-year search for the robot, everything that had happened with Nefarious and Orvus and Alister Azimuth.

"Yeah…" Ratchet replied. "Pretty unbelievable, right?"

"I've heard much crazier…" Venus laughed weakly. Then, she breathed deeply and said, "I'm sorry for your loss…both of you."

"Don't be," Ratchet said. "What's done is done. You can't change the past…that's one thing I've learned through all my experiences. What we need to do now is figure out where that sapphire amulet is."

"Right. I've got a couple of ideas as to where it might be. There's Morklon, just beyond Gimlik Valley. Then there's the Rikar Ocean of Zanifar. I've heard rumors that both places have a chamber somewhere beneath the surface of the water. I trust your armor comes with a facemask that allows you to breathe in space and underwater?"

"Yep."

"Good. You're gonna need it. Now, it'd be much quicker if we split up for this one. You two go check Morklon. Send me coordinates to Zanifar and I'll see what's there."

"Uploading coordinates to your ship now," Clank said.

"When you guys are done, meet me back at the Korthos Depot, got it?"

"Yeah." Venus nodded and said, "And this time, if I call you, don't hang up on me. I've already thought about turning you into a fur coat." They both laughed. "You two be careful, okay?"

"_You _be careful!" Ratchet smiled. Venus laughed and said, "I'll see you two at the Korthos Depot. Venus out." And with that, she warped off to the Korthos Sector. Ratchet looked over at Clank. "We'd better go too," he said. Clank nodded as the two warped off to the Corvus Sector.

"Now entering Korthos Sector," came the robotic voice of Atrion as the two slowed down, flying past a couple moons. Venus looked around; nothing too interesting was happening around her. The only other things flying around were asteroids, and there was not another ship to be seen. Finally, Venus couldn't take the silence anymore and turned the radio on to Pirate Radio, expecting to hear one of her favorite songs. Instead, there was a news report.

"Good evening. I'm Kip Darling," came the voice of a male newscaster. Then came a feminine voice: "And I'm Pepper Fairbanks." Venus tilted her head slightly as the news report continued.

"Chaos and terror have ensued across the galaxy as a mysterious race known as the Shraalites begin tearing apart entire planets in search of a mysterious Lombax secret," Kip said. "It is unknown who is commanding the beasts, but rumors are spreading like wildfire that someone by the name of Zarthon is behind the attacks." Then came the voice of Pepper. "No one knows for sure where they are now or where they came from, but there have been reports of a large black warship surrounded by smaller green space cruisers somewhere in the Corvus Sector."

"What?!" Venus said, her ears perking up.

"We will update periodically on the situation," Pepper continued. "Now back to our regularly scheduled programming." After that, music began playing on the radio.

"Oh, this is bad!" Venus said, calling Ratchet. "Please don't let it be too late…" For a moment, there was no answer. "Come on, Ratch. Pick it up…"

"Venus?" came Ratchet's voice. She sighed in relief. "What's up?"

"Ratchet, thank Orvus you're all right!" Venus said.

"Of course I'm all right, why wouldn't-"

"Listen! There's something you need to know! I just heard a news report. Those troops that attacked us on Quantos…they're called Shraalites! And they may be in your sector!"

"What? Venus, are you sure?"

"I'm positive, Ratchet! Why would you even-" She was cut off by Aphelion's voice: "Warning. Warning. Hostile ships detected."

"Ratchet, what's going on?!" Venus demanded.

"I think you're right, Ve! Those things _are _here!"

"Ratch, tell me where you are! I'm coming in for support!"

"We're just above Morklon's surface! But-" He stopped mid-sentence and all Venus could hear was a loud explosion. Then, came Ratchet's voice: "Clank! No!" Then, another explosion. After that, all that could be heard was static. "Ratchet?" Venus said, her ears drooping as she thought of what could've possibly happened. "Ratchet!" When there was still no response, she spoke to Atrion: "Do you have the coordinates to their location?"

"Affirmative!" Atrion responded.

"Good! Let's get there as soon as possible!" And with that, they warped off to the Corvus Sector.

As Clank opened his eyes and looked disoriented at his surroundings, he tried to remember what had happened. He was now inside a ship, but he instantly knew it wasn't Aphelion. He had been set into the passenger seat. When he tried to move, he was instantly shocked and immobilized. He felt something around his neck; there was a collar just small enough to constrict around his tiny neck. He looked to his left to look at whoever was in the driver seat. He gasped at what he saw.

There, staring him down, was one of the troops, fangs bared as he glared at the robot. "Well, well," he growled. "Look who's finally awake."

"What…" he began. "What is going on? I cannot remember anything…"

"Then there must not have been anything worth remembering." The troop turned his attention back to the space in front of him. After only a few moments, Clank couldn't hold on any longer; the tiny robot was unconscious once again.

"Um…hello?" Ratchet heard a child's voice as he slowly awoke. "Hey, mister! Are you okay?" The Lombax slowly opened his emerald green eyes and looked up at the child. He was a young Fongoid. He smiled at Ratchet as he tried to get up. "Do you need help, mister?" the young Fongoid asked. Ratchet shook his head, still slightly confused; his head was pounding and he couldn't remember a thing. He looked around; he was now in a thick jungle, surrounded by various types of plants, his ears filled with the sounds of the many creatures that called this place home. As he got to his feet, he looked back down at the child. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in Gimlik Valley!" he responded, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Gimlik Valley?" he said, still unable to remember anything from before.

"Yeah! Your ship's over there." The child pointed to his right and Ratchet looked over to where he was pointing. He jumped as he saw Aphelion lying in ruins near a huge cliff. He ran over to her and placed a hand on her wing. "Aphelion?" he said. There was no response. As he looked at the ruined ship, he suddenly remembered everything; the enemy ships that had shot them down, Clank falling out of the cockpit as it unexpectedly burst open, then finally Ratchet falling out himself as Aphelion crashed down onto the ground. His eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder and saw that Clank was not in his usual place on his back.

He then turned back to the child. "A robot!" he said. "Please tell me there was a robot with me, or at least somewhere near me!" The child looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. "No," he said. "I don't think so." Ratchet's heart dropped as he heard these words. "Do you need a place to stay until your ship gets fixed, mister?" Ratchet shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, turning to walk away. "I have to go."

"Be careful, mister!" the child warned. "There's been really scary monsters out there lately…" His ears perked up and he turned around, smiling at the child. "Thanks, kid," was all he said before turning around and walking away again.

_This can't be happening…_

Venus looked around the village as she landed Atrion gently on the ground. "Alright, Ratchet," she said, calling him again. "I just hope I'm not too late…" After a moment, she managed to get a signal. "Ratchet, are you there?" she asked.

"Yeah…I'm here…" The Lombax sounded very solemn as he spoke. She wondered what was wrong, but decided that it was more important to find him first, then ask him about it after she found him. "Ratchet, listen to me. Where are you?"

"I don't know…"

"Well then, activate your nav beacon and stay where you are. I'll be there as soon as I can, got it?" It was obvious he had did as instructed; a green mark now showed up on her nav unit. "Don't move, Ratch! I'm comin'!" When he didn't respond, she began to get worried. Not because she thought he was dead; she could still hear the sounds of the animals from his side. She worried more about what was troubling him. "I'll be right there, okay?" she asked, hoping for a response this time."Okay…" was all he said. Her ears drooped as she ran off in search of him.

Ratchet had done as instructed and stayed in one place. He now sat on a rock near the edge of a cliff. The sun was already beginning to set, painting the jungle landscape below hues of orange and red as a river snaked its way through a part of the valley. Ratchet looked down at the scene; it was absolutely breathtaking, but he was too deep in sorrow to enjoy it.

_You can't be gone…_he thought. He buried his face in his hands as his ears drooped. _You're all I've got left…you can't leave me, not now. _Eventually his mind drifted off to the time he had gone through without Clank, when the Zoni had taken him out of the space station. The first thought that went through his head back then was that he'd never see his friend again. At the very least, he had a slight glimmer of hope this time, but nothing more or less.

He looked back down at the valley below, tears forming in his eyes as he struggled to stay where he was; he wanted so badly to go and look for his robot companion, but he knew that would be foolish. First of all, if he ran off like that, Venus would never be able to find him. Secondly, for all he knew, there were more troops looking for him. It was best if he just stayed where he was.

But he could barely resist the urge to leave and look for him.

Just as he was about to get up and search for the robot, he heard someone walk up behind him. He turned around to find Venus standing there, smiling at him; she had obviously been concerned for him and overjoyed to know that he was all right. She ran over to him. "Ratchet!" she said, embracing him warmly as she knelt down next to him. This took him by surprise at first, but then, he loosely embraced her as well. She smiled widely and looked at him; her smile faded when she saw her friend's solemn expression. "Ratchet, what's wrong?" she asked, placing a hand on his cheek. He was about to speak, but he became overwhelmed with sorrow before he could. He rested his head on her shoulder, breathing heavily. It was obvious to her that he was trying not to cry. She gently placed a hand on the back of his head. "Ratchet, please tell me what's wrong…"

"It's Clank…" he managed to say before sobbing. She tilted her head. "He's gone…"

"What?" she said, unable to believe what he was saying.

"He fell out of the ship during the crash…I don't know where he is…"

"Well then, you don't know he's _really _gone."

"He fell right out of the sky! He couldn't move or activate his Heli-Pack! There's no way he could've survived that!" Ratchet spoke through sobs and tears as he looked up at her. Her comforting expression suddenly changed into one of determination as she got up and put her hand on his shoulders. "Listen to me, Ratchet!" she said. "You don't know this for sure! He could still be alive! You're giving up way too easily here!" She straightened up and continued. "You're giving up the only thing we have." He looked at her confused for a moment. Then, she finished:

"Hope."

His expression now turned to shock as she took his hand and helped him up. "You can't give up hope, Ratchet. You give up hope…you give up everything…" He looked down at her; he hadn't realized it before, but he was a head taller than she was. He sighed before speaking.

"How do you do it, Venus?" he asked. Now she looked confused. "Do what?" she asked.

"Keep hope in situations like this…" She smiled at him. "Like I said," she began. "if you give up hope, you give up everything. You have to hold onto it, no matter how bleak the situation may seem." He smiled faintly back down at her. "So! Are we done wallowing in this it's-the-end-of-the-universe pity, then?" He laughed weakly and replied, "Yeah."

"Good man!" She turned and began walking away. "Come on," she said. "I'm picking up another energy signature near the village." He nodded and followed closely behind her.

"You know, it's interesting how in just a few seconds you managed to give me hope again," he said.

"Yeah," she said, smiling as she looked at him over her shoulder. "I tend to have that effect on people." She smiled wider as they neared the village. He could feel it now; he had come to slightly admire her courage and seemingly unbreakable spirit. It seemed, from what he had observed, that even when a situation was as bleak as it could get, she'd never be the one to give up. It was plain as day; she had a fighter's spirit…

The spirit of a tigress…

As the door to the large dark room opened, the troop threw Clank inside, ignoring the robot's obvious pain. "Sir!" he said. "We were unable to find the Lombax, but I think it's safe to assume he's dead!"

_Ratchet, dead?!_ Clank thought in horror. _No! It cannot be!_

"What'll you have us do with this sorry bucket of bolts?" the troop asked. Clank looked from the troop to the dark figure he was speaking to. The figure turned around and glared down at him. Clank looked at him in terror as the red eyes seemed to pierce right through his soul. The figure then looked back at the troop. "Neutralize him," he said, turning around. "And lock him up. We may be able to get some useful information out of him."

"I will never talk, you fiend!" Clank said. But before the robot had the time to say anything more, the troop pressed a button on his wrist; the collar around Clank's neck shocked him intensely for a few moments before rendering him unconscious and immobilized once again. The figure turned back to face the troop and smiled. "I knew you wouldn't fail me, soldier," he said. The troop-turned-commander nodded, picked up the robot, and walked out of the room, the door closing behind him.

The figure turned to face the wall again; a dim light allowed him to see everything on it. There were sketches of the four amulets, sketches of the Heart of the Dragon Leviathan, artists' depictions of what it would look like if the ancient Lombax legend had really come true. As he scanned the pictures, his eyes stopped to an artists' depiction of the chaos the shadow would cause; entire planets bursting into flames, stars dimming, the sun in every galaxy going supernova. The figure smiled as he looked at this picture. "It won't be long now," he began. "before that nightmare becomes a reality." His eyes never left the picture.

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No comment…XD


	5. Chapter 5: Guardian of the Deep

R&R! :)

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It didn't take the two very long to get back to the Fongoid village, yet by the time they got there, it was already dark outside. Ratchet looked curiously around as Venus stared cautiously ahead. He looked over at her, wondering why she looked the way she did. "So," he began. "Where exactly is this-" He was cut off when she suddenly clapped her hand over his mouth and pulled him into the bushes near them.

"What are you doing?!" he demanded, sticking his tongue out as he pushed her hand away. "And why are your hands so filthy?!"

"Fighting Shraalites and overstuffed chickens can do that to a person," she responded flatly. Then, she separated the branches a bit and turned his head to the right. "And that's why I dragged you in here!" All he saw was a young Fongoid, probably around seventeen, evidently one that had been given the responsibility to watch over the village at night. He looked back at her. "It's just a Fongoid!" he said. "It's not gonna-"

"Would you shut up already?!" She continued speaking, only now whispering. "Now listen to me. The good news is that I know for sure where that energy signature is coming from."

"Okay, so, what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that it's somewhere past the floodgate. If we're gonna get to that amulet, we'll have to make sure we're not seen. I think the locals will get a little suspicious if they see two Lombaxes flying over the top of the only thing standing between them and the worst flood in their history; they have a pretty good reason to be overprotective of that thing. If they see us trying to get over that thing, even just one of them, they might think we're trying to destroy it for one reason or another and attack us."

"So what? Fongoids aren't that tough…""It's not a matter of whether or not they're tough. Growing up with them my entire life, I know they can be rather stubborn at times; if they make up their minds that we're trying to flood their village, we'll have to fight them. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna have to hurt anyone innocent just to get to that amulet. So we can't let anyone see us while we're trying to get over that thing, got it?" He nodded as she looked back out of the bushes; the Fongoid watchman had walked away, so he wouldn't be able to see them if they got out now. She motioned for him to follow her as she got up and walked out of the bush. He slowly followed her as she flew just a few inches off the ground, cautious not to make a single sound. "Be as quiet as possible, okay?" she said as she neared the creek.

"Easy for you to say!" he said. "You're the one with the wings here!" Then, he noticed she suddenly froze in place and stared ahead, her eyes wide. He followed her gaze and saw another, older Fongoid, evidently in his twenties or thirties, walking slowly toward them. She flew back over to him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him into the creek, hiding under the bridge; the two of them blended in almost perfectly with the night shadows. Venus's ears perked up as she heard two Fongoids talking to each other just above them.

"Hey, Uril!" the older Fongoid said. "Still patrolling the village at this time of night?""Of course," the younger Fongoid replied. "Father made it my duty. I made a promise to him, and I don't intend to break it." Then, they heard the younger Fongoid yawn and the older one laugh. "A little tired, are we?" the elder asked. "You go on home; get some rest. I'll take over from here, okay?" It was evident the younger Fongoid agreed with his elder; after the older Fongoid spoke, he said, "Thanks. I'll se you in the morning."

"Try to get some decent sleep this time, Uril!" the older Fongoid called after him. After a moment, Venus looked up at the Fongoid; he had begun walking away and his back was turned to the two. She turned back to Ratchet and motioned for him to follow her as she crawled her way along the bottom of the creek and towards the floodgate. Just as they were right in front of it, the Fongoid heard something splashing in the creek. Seeing that the Fongoid was about to turn around, Venus took Ratchet by the hands and flew up just before he turned around. The Fongoid looked around as she hovered just above the floodgate. She smiled and flew off behind the floodgate just as the Fongoid looked up; he saw her fly away, but thought either it was just a strange bird, or that he was just imagining it. He looked back down at the ground and shook his head, speaking to himself as he walked away: "I really need to talk to my wife about her cooking…"

* * *

"Hey, little guy! Are you all right?" Clank heard a voice speaking to him as he came to his senses. He slowly opened his glowing green eyes and looked up at the person talking to him. A Fongoid smiled down at him, relieved at what he saw. "Thank Orvus you're awake!" he said. Clank sat up and looked around curiously; he was now in a small metal cell, the only exit blocked off by a laser field. "Where am I?" he asked, looking back at the Fongoid. "What is going on?"

"You were captured by Zarthon's troops," the Fongoid replied. "You're on his warship. And I'd say you're pretty lucky. Usually when they capture people, they don't live this long."

"What do you mean?""Zarthon is ruthless. He lays waste to nearly every planet he visits, looking for something. He seems to refer to it as 'the heart'…would you know what he's talking about?" Clank looked down at the metal floor below him. "Yes…" he began. "I would. I believe he is talking about-" He suddenly froze, a terrified look In his eyes. He stood up quickly, walking towards the containment field. "That is it!" he said, confusing the Fongoid. "I remember now!"

"Remember what?" he asked. Clank looked back at his obvious cellmate. "I remember everything that happened before I came here! The star cruisers, shooting at Aphelion…I fell out of the cockpit as it burst open, and then…" As his voice trailed off, the Fongoid walked up to him. "And then…what?" he asked, looking down at the tiny robot.

"When the troop threw me in here," he began. "did he say anything about a Lombax? Anything at all?" The Fongoid nodded slowly and replied, "He did say something about a Lombax…but he was only talking to another troop. He said something about a Lombax that died during a crash to the surface of Morklon…" Clank felt so many emotions at one time stirring within his hard drive; desperation, sorrow, rage, and it all confused him so. Everything was happening so fast. He now saw that maybe Venus was right; maybe they should've gone back to Metropolis.

Clank shook his head at the very thought. _No…_he said. _Ratchet is not dead. He cannot be dead. And we did the right thing in going with Venus! Now I must find a way off this ship and back to Ratchet!_ "Please, I must know. Is there any way off this ship?"

"Not that I know of," said the Fongoid, shaking his head unsurely. "The only way off this ship would be to highjack one of the troops' star cruisers. They're surrounded by laser fields, security cameras, and guard dogs trained to kill most anything that moves. The only way to lower the fields and deactivate the cameras is to get a Shraalite security card. Even if you could manage to do that, the only thing the guard dogs were trained not to kill is Shraalite troops."

Clank was about to speak when he suddenly heard heavy footsteps behind him and turned around. One of the troops was walking towards the containment cell. He smiled wickedly at Clank as he lowered the containment field and picked him up by the arm. "Up and at 'em, sunshine!" he said in his face, making him thankful for the fact that he didn't have a sense of smell. "We've got a little somethin' for ya!" Reactivating the containment field, he carried the terrified robot away. The Fongoid could only watch helplessly as he looked back at the containment field desperately.

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Venus set Ratchet down gently on the ground as she landed near the river flowing just past the floodgate of Gimlik Valley. He looked over at her as she glared ahead, grasping her sword tightly. "What's up now?" he asked.

"I'm picking up something ahead, and it's not gonna be good…" she whispered.

"What about that CryoMine Launcher I got you?""I left it in the ship…" She looked back at him, smiling sheepishly. "I was too worried about you and forgot I even had it…Needless to say, I didn't think I'd even need it." Ratchet sighed. "Well, I've seen what that sword of yours can do," he said. "Unless that thing ahead is as powerful as that Dragon Leviathan thing you told me about, I think you'll be safe with just that." She nodded. "Come on," she said. "Let's get that amulet." He nodded and followed her as she walked up the river.

________________

The troop strapped Clank onto a table of some sort by his wrists, ankles, and neck. the robot struggled in vain to get free as the troop and several others smiled at him. Just then, the commander of the troops walked into the dimly lit room. Blaster in hand, he walked up to the table, pressing the gun up against the robot's head. "Nice to see you're finally awake," the commander growled.

"What do you want with me?!" Clank demanded.

"We're gonna play a little game," the commander continued. "It's called 'Be Honest With Me'. Now, the rules are simple: You be honest with me, and I won't blow your head off your shoulders. Deal?" Clank just glared at him, hatred and fury in his robotic eyes. The commander pressed the blaster harder against his head. "Now then," he began. "How do we get the heart?""I will never tell you!" Clank spat back at him. "Venus and Ratchet will find the heart, and they will stop you all!"

"Still haven't accepted the fact that the little furry football's dead, huh?" Then, he snarled, "You'll tell us how to get the heart! Or say hello to your precious Lombax friend!" Clank glared angrily at the commander, who in turn bared his fangs at the robot.

Then, he looked up as someone entered the room. Clank looked to his right to find the same dark figure from before walking slowly into the room, his narrow red eyes filled with hatred and malice. As he walked up to the table that Clank was now strapped to, the dim lighting allowed him to finally see the figure's features. He was black scaled and lizard-like, similar to the other Shraalites. But unlike the other muscular troops, he was tall and thin, wearing a pitch-black cloak. He also lacked the strange green markings that the others had. Clank stared in fear at him as he looked down at him.

Then, the figure looked up at one of the troops, standing next to the switch that would either trap or free the robot. He nodded at the troop, who pushed the switch up, releasing Clank. Before he got a chance to leap off the table, the figure grabbed him by the neck and held him up to eye-level with him. "My troops tell me you've been rather…insubordinate," he said as Clank struggled to get free. "Perhaps they are just not threatening enough for you." He then pulled out the black laser gun and pointed it at Clank's head. "This blast will incinerate you on contact, do you understand? I may be persuaded to let you go…" He charged up the gun as he spoke. "…if you tell me where the last three amulets are. Now talk, you worthless pile of scrap metal!"

"You will never find them, you monster!" was all Clank said. The Shraalite growled menacingly at him. "Regardless of whether you tell me or not," he began. "I _will _find them. I _will _have the heart. And I _will _kill those two worthless furballs you call 'friends'! Starting with your friend, Ratchet! Now, it will save us both a lot of time, and _you _a lot of agony, if you talk."

"Kill me if you feel you must! I will never tell you anything! You do not understand what the heart can do!""Oh, believe me, I do…" He set him back down on the table and snapped his fingers. The troop at the switch pulled down on it, trapping Clank once again. Then, the Shraalite looked at the commander and nodded. The commander pressed a button on the wrist of his armor, shocking Clank with the collar for a moment before it knocked him out. The Shraalite then turned and walked away; he said one thing before he left the room: "Ready the device. We'll get that information, even if we have to do it ourselves…"

______________

"How the heck are we gonna find one amulet in a place like this?" Ratchet asked as the two Lombaxes looked out at the scene in front of them; a huge lake sprawling over the landscape, surrounded by crystals giving off dim lights in various different colors. The light from the crystals reflected off the still surface of the water.

"Only one thing _to _do," he heard Venus reply. He looked over at her; she stood at the water's edge, a facemask covering the lower half of her face. "Let's hope you're a good swimmer, Ratch." He nodded and put on his own facemask, walking up to the water's edge next to her. "It's probably best if we each search one half of the lake. You take the left; I'll look on the right side. We'll stay in radio contact, got it?"

"Got it!" he replied. She nodded and dove into the water, swimming off to the right as Ratchet dove in and swam to the left. When he reached the bottom of the lake, he saw there was nothing there except for the opening to a long, dark tunnel. "Okay…now what?" he asked Venus.

"I think it's somewhere within the tunnels. Now, the good news-"

"Again with the good news and the bad news…""Unfortunately. Now, as I was saying, the good news is I think I know where it is; I can see it on my nav unit. The bad news is, the only way to get to it is to find it somewhere within this labyrinth of underwater tunnels. And not just that; chances are, if something's guarding it like the topaz amulet, there'll be nowhere to run. In other words, you'd better have life insurance, pal!"

"Great…" he sighed. "That makes me feel a whole lot better…"

"Just watch your back in there, alright?""Yeah…" he swam cautiously into the tunnel. "And after all that's happened in my life, I was smart enough to get life insurance a long time ago!"

"Good man!" She laughed as she swam into a tunnel on her side. "I'll radio you if anything comes up. You do the same too, got it?""Yep. Good luck."

"You too, Ratch. And be careful in there; I'd hate to lose the only other Lombax I've ever known. Venus out." He pondered for a moment about her last remark, then shrugged and swam deeper into the tunnels.

_________________

"Captain," the commander said, walking up behind the Shraalite. "The device is ready. We await only your command." The Shraalite captain turned to face the commander and smiled. "Good," he said, walking back to the table that Clank was strapped to. He now had several electrodes attached to his head and body. "Activate it."

Upon hearing his command, one of the troops flipped a switch. Three separate computer screens were lowered from above the table, each one lighting up brightly. "Greetings, Captain," came the feminine voice of the computer. "What are your orders?"

"Find any useful information you can from this robot's memory banks," the captain replied. The computer beeped and the voice came again: "Command confirmed. Deactivating neural safeguards." After a moment, it beeped again. "Neural safeguards deactivated. Now running sisterboard scan. Awaiting information clarification."

"Heart of the Dragon Leviathan," the commander said. Beeping once again, it replied, "Affirmative. Accessing information file; Heart of the Dragon Leviathan." He waited a moment for the computer's response. "File found. Opening file." A picture of the heart popped up on the screen, as well as various information on the object. The computer recited the information for the captain and the troops to hear.

"Originally created by ancient Lombax shamans to stop a fabled shadow that would destroy the universe. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, however, it would assist the shadow along its path of destruction.""I know that much already!" the captain shouted, pressing his hands up against the screen. "How do I get to it, you waste of technology?!"

"It would not hurt to ask nicely every now and then," the computer replied, then continued. "In order to reach the heart, proof in the form of four amulets is required.""You're not telling me anything I don't already know! Where are the amulets?!"

"The amulets, each one representing one of the four basic elements, can be found on four different planets. They can each be found on the planet that best represents its element.""I know, I know! What's the exact location of each amulet?!" The computer beeped, this time much lower than before, and the voice came again. "Information not found.""What?!"

"It appears that the robot does not know the exact location of each amulet. Only the one that the rebel has already found." The captain growled in defeat, looking down at Clank. "So close…" he muttered. Then, he glared back up at the computer screens. After that, the troops noticed something on his forehead and jumped; a much wider third eye burst open as he growled. "So close!" he shouted, swiping at the computer screens and smashing all three with a single strike.

The troops cowered in fear at their angered captain. The Shraalite captain then turned to the commander. "Commander!" he said. He stood at attention as the captain continued. "We have no further use for this infernal contraption. Destroy him immed-" He was cut off when another troop burst into the room, his breathing heavy; it was obvious he had been running through the entire warship searching for him. "Captain!" he gasped. The captain growled and turned to the door, facing the troop. "What do you want?" he asked, irritated.

"I've just received word from one of our Fongoid spies…" the troop said. "The rebel Venus has been spotted near Gimlik Valley." The captain smiled at him. "Excellent," he said.

"Sir, that's not all," he continued. "She was accompanied by Ratchet…the robot's companion…" The captain's pointed ears flicked when he heard the troop's words. "That's not possible…" he said. "Ratchet's dead…""Sir, we thought he was too. Evidently, he's not; he's accompanying the rebel in her search for the next amulet. Sir, shall we go after them and take what they have?" The captain thought for a moment, then smiled widely again. "No…" he said. "Let them come to us. If that little junk heap is as important to those two as I think he is, they'll come after him. And if they don't, they'll lead us to the heart eventually; we can dispose of the robot afterwards."

* * *

It was a few hours before Ratchet finally exited the underwater tunnel and surfaced again, removing his facemask. He hadn't found anything, and he assumed Venus hadn't either; he hadn't heard from her since she went off to look for the amulet. On one hand, it was a good thing - it meant she hadn't run into any trouble that she couldn't get out of herself. On the other hand, it also meant that she hadn't found the amulet. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but wonder if she was alright.

_Ah, I'm sure she's fine…_he thought, crawling up to the water's edge. _In the meantime, I might as well sit back and enjoy the view…_He sat near the water, dangling his feet into the lake as he looked out at the sprawling landscape. For a time, he forgot everything - the fabled Heart of the Dragon Leviathan and the shadow that would destroy the universe, the fact that Venus was still searching for the amulet and that Clank had been lost - and slipped into his own thoughts, almost forgetting the entire universe. He lay down and stared up at the stars.

It wasn't long before he was snapped back to reality.

"Ratchet!" he heard a familiar voice scream. Ratchet shot upright. "Venus?" he said. "What's up?" He sat upright, awaiting an answer from her.

"I…uh…may need a hand down here…""What do you mean?"

"I kinda - whoa!" Suddenly, all that could be heard was a loud crash and a roar. He looked out to the lake once again. Seemingly from out of nowhere, a large serpent burst from the surface, sending rocks flying through the air. Amidst the debris, he was able to pick out Venus's figure flying through the air. She landed in the water right in front of him. "Venus!" he cried, diving in after her.

When he reached out to try to help her, she just shoved him away. "Don't worry about me, Ratch!" she said. "I'm fine!" She quickly swam up to the water's surface. He followed her up as she crawled ashore. When she turned around, he noticed a deep scratch on her face, extending from under her left eye down to her chin. It appeared to be bleeding heavily. "Venus," he began. "What happened to your-""Don't worry about that!" she said. "Right now, we need to stop that _thing _before it kills us both. I'm gonna need your help again." He nodded and stood next to her. "Please tell me Clank didn't have all your weapons, Ratchet." She noticed him cringing and smiling sheepishly as she spoke. "For the love of Orvus!""Well, where else was I supposed to put them?!" he said defensively. "That little compartment of his really comes in handy for these things!"

"Wonderful…" she said sarcastically, shaking her head. "Looks like we're both stuck with relatively short-range weapons. The whip from my sword only goes so far…just try not to get killed, okay?""Got it! What's the plan?"

"I'll distract it. You go get the amulet.""What?!" Before he got the chance to question her decision any further, she spread her wings and flew off. "I'll stay in radio contact just to be safe. Now get down there!" He sighed, but complied. "All right. You just be careful, okay, Venus?" Before he dove under the water, he saw Venus flitting around the huge serpent's head, dodging snaps from its jaws and its swinging tail. He shook his head as he dove down.

Amongst the darkness of the water, he could pick out a faint blue light shining from a huge hole in the ground. He assumed it to be the chamber where the amulet was held and swam towards it.

-

After dodging yet another swing of the serpent's tail, Venus noticed the creature glaring down at the water. She knew immediately that it could see Ratchet swimming down to retrieve the amulet. It swung its tail down at the water. "Ratchet!" she said to him. "Look out!"

-

Upon hearing his friend's words, he looked up at the water's surface; the serpent's tail came crashing down upon him, then wrapped around him in a tight grasp. "Ratchet!" he heard Venus say.

The serpent lifted him out of the water, its grip tightening on the Lombax's body. It was not long before he found himself almost unable to breathe. Venus glared at the serpent and flew towards its face, preparing to attack with her sword. The serpent saw her, and before she knew it, a huge wave crashed into her, knocking her back onto the shore. She coughed, trying to catch her breath, and looked back at Ratchet. He gasped for breath and looked weakly back at her. "Ratchet!" she cried. "No!"

She suddenly noticed a dim yellow light glowing beneath her. She looked down and saw that the light was coming from her necklace. She heard a soft voice from somewhere around her. _Venus…_it said. _Allow me to assist you…_After that, she was suddenly surrounded by a powerful whirlwind. Ratchet and the serpent looked curiously at her.

Then, from inside the whirlwind, a pair of glowing yellow eyes could be seen. From out of the whirlwind burst I mighty yellow bird, its entire body glowing with an incandescent yellow light. Ratchet recognized the bird immediately - it was the bird that was guarding the topaz amulet on Vapedia, only this time, its voice was less harsh and much quieter. _Release him immediately. _the bird said to the serpent, who in turn snarled viciously. _You! _it said, using telepathy like the bird. Its voice was more feminine than the bird's voice. _This Lombax wants the heart! There is darkness within his own heart! He cannot be allowed to have it!_

_You do not know that for sure. Only the Dragon Leviathan can tell that for sure. Release him or I will have to kill you._ The serpent only tightened its grip on him. _Then come get him, you miserable bird! _it spat at the bird.

_So be it…_The bird suddenly disappeared from sight, flying too fast for either Ratchet or the serpent to see. It then reappeared in front of it, its wings covered in blades of air. It slashed the serpent's face. It roared in pain, blood dripping down its face, as it released its grip on Ratchet. The bird looked over at the falling Lombax and flew underneath him just before he hit the water. He landed on its back as it flew back to the shore. _Are you all right, Ratchet? _it asked. What he found strange is the bird's voice was now not only his, but Venus's voice was also mixed in with it as it spoke. "Yeah…" he replied. "But…I don't understand. How did you-"_When I allowed the two of you to pass and retrieve the amulet back on Vapedia, you saw a ball of light fly into Venus's necklace, did you not? _Ratchet nodded as the bird continued. _I was obviously that ball of light. When that happened, I joined the two of you on your journey to stop the shadow from spreading. So, I lend you my full power. If it means stopping this shadow, I will follow you to the ends of the universe. _Ratchet smiled. "Anything I can do to help you kick this creature's tail?" he asked.

_Not unless you have any kind of weapon. Other than that wrench, that is. And from what I overheard, you don't._

"You can hear everything we're saying to each other?"_I'm with you at all times now, Ratchet. _the bird laughed. _Naturally, I'm going to know everything that goes on between the two of you._

_That's rather…disturbing…_Ratchet thought to himself. "Anyway-" He was about to continue until the bird shrieked and flew up again, dodging the serpent's tail. _You'll never get the amulet! _the serpent shouted. _And you'll never get the heart!_

_We must have it! _the bird cried in response. _You don't understand!_

_Don't try to fool me, you manipulative bag of feathers! _It roared to the sky and suddenly, a powerful stream of water came flying at the two. The bird spun around quickly, creating another whirlwind. The water was captured within the whirlwind, which now ended in a point. The bird, keeping the whirlwind up, then flew forward at the serpent. It acted almost as a sort of drill, nearly piercing the part of its chest that it hit. The serpent screamed in pain again, collapsing into the water.

"Way to go!" Ratchet said victoriously.

_It's not over yet, young Lombax…_the bird replied.

"What?" The serpent then burst out of the water again, but just as it did, the bird flew forward, grasping it by the neck with its talons and lifting it into the air. "What're you gonna do?!" Ratchet said, hanging on to its feathers for his life. _I'm going to try to defeat it, of course! _

"Well, obviously, but-" He was cut off when the bird shrieked again and stopped flying upward. It then suddenly flew downward towards the land surrounding the lake. The serpent roared as it tried in vain to squirm free of the bird's grip. Just before the bird hit the ground, it flew up and threw the serpent on the ground. Ratchet heard it shriek as it crashed down. The bird then turned around, spinning as fast as it could as it flew down towards the fallen serpent. Its beak acting like a drill, it pierced the serpent's throat. It flew back up, still carrying the serpent in its clamped beak, then threw it into the trees. The serpent then closed its eyes, but it was still breathing heavily.

The bird landed just in front of it as the serpent weakly opened one eye and looked at it. Ratchet leapt off its back. _My work here…is done…_the bird said. It suddenly began glowing much brighter, then burst into a flurry of feathers, leaving nothing but the same yellow ball of light behind. Standing in place of the bird was Venus. She looked very weak, but for some reason was glowing in a dim white light. The ball of light flew back into Venus's necklace. As soon as it did, she fell over, exhausted. Ratchet ran to her side and caught her before she hit the ground. "Venus!" he said. Her ears drooped as she looked weakly at him. "Are you okay?" She smiled and nodded.

The two then looked over at the serpent as it spoke. _You have proven yourselves worthy…I, too, will join you in your quest…_It began glowing in the same way the bird did. _I will not fail you…_It disappeared into a blue ball of light, which then flew over to Venus and disappeared into the necklace as well. "Okay," Venus said, looking down at her necklace. "This is getting weird…""You're sure you're all right?" Ratchet asked.

"Really, I'll be fine. Just…go get the amulet." He helped her over to the water's edge. She knelt down next to the lake, scooped up some of the water in her hands, and sipped some of it. She looked over at him, noticing he hadn't yet left to retrieve the amulet. "Ratchet," she said. "Please. Just go get it." He nodded and put his facemask back on. He reluctantly dove into the water, swimming towards the huge hole in the bottom of the lake. Venus looked down into the water as she watched him swimming down. She then looked at her own moonlit reflection. _He's gonna get himself killed because of me…_she thought. _I have to try to get him to leave me…go home…live the rest of his life…_

Before she knew it, he popped back up out of the water, making her jump. "Did you get it?" she asked.

"Yep," he replied, crawling back up onto the shore, holing out the blue, golden-chained, raindrop-shaped amulet. She nodded. "Good. Now, we need to get back to Atrion." He helped her up.

Suddenly, her ears perked up and she glared into the trees. "But before we go back, we need to tend to that scratch on your face," he said.

Before he got the chance to do so, she flew up and took him by the arms. "There's no time for that now!" she said, flying back in the direction of the Fongoid village. "Something's coming, and it might be those Shraalite troops!" She flew quickly back over the floodgate, across the Fongoid village square, and set Ratchet down next to Atrion. He looked over at her as she crashed down next to one of the huts. "Venus!" he cried, running over to her. He took her hand and pulled her up, placing her arm around his shoulder. "We need to get you to a hospital.""No, Ratchet," she insisted. "I'll be fine. I just need some rest. Think you can drive?""Yeah. Come on. Let's get outta here before those Shraalites catch up with us." She nodded as the two walked back over to Atrion. After helping her into the passenger seat and leaping into the driver seat, he asked, "Where are you keeping the amulets?"

"Just give it to me," she said, holding out her hand as she sunk back in her seat. "I'll put it in the glove compartment with the other one…" He nodded and handed her the amulet as he started up the ship.

"So," Ratchet began as they cleared the planet's surface. "Where to now?"

"Well, Ratchet…" Venus sighed. "I'm going to Polaris to look for the other two amulets." He looked over at her curiously as she continued. "You, on the other hand, are going back to Metropolis. You're going home. And if I find Clank, you'll be the first to know.""Now, why would you think that?""You almost got yourself killed because of me, Ratchet! I don't want that to happen again! Now, when we get back to Polaris-""We'll _both _go look for those amulets! Venus, we've been through this before; I'm with you, no matter what!

"Even at the cost of your own life?!"

"I've gotten out of situations much worse than that back there before!" She glared at him. "But it's only gonna get worse, I can tell!" she argued. "Ratchet, this is gonna turn into something unlike anything you've ever experienced! I don't want you to die because you went looking for some legend with me!"

"Don't try to get me to leave, Venus. It's not gonna work." She sighed and shook her head. "If you don't see it now…" she began, staring out at the stars. "you'll see it sooner or later; you could die because of me."

"Just tell me where we're going next and quit whining about it!" he said jokingly. She looked back at him, smirking, and replied, "Well, since we found both the amulets in the Breegus System, we should go to Polaris now. But I don't know any of the planets there, so I don't know where exactly to go. For now, we'll just get there and go from there." He nodded as they warped off for the Polaris Galaxy.

______________

:)


	6. Chapter 6: Our New Recruits

No comment. It's relatively early in the morning on a Sunday as I'm writing this…XD

__________________

Venus had already fallen asleep before the two even reached the Polaris Galaxy. As he drove the ship, Ratchet tried thinking of where they should search next, slipping off once again into his own thoughts.

_Only two amulets left now…_he thought. _We need one for fire, and one for earth. But so far, both amulets had something guarding them…and the water guardian was more powerful than the bird…We might need some help…_He reached over and turned the radio on, making sure it wasn't too loud so she didn't wake up.

After he did, he noticed her stir next to him. He looked at her as she lazily opened her eyes. "Sorry, Venus…" he said as she looked over at him. "Didn't mean to wake you up.""That's all right…" she replied, straightening up in her seat. "I've always been a pretty light sleeper. Someone drops a pin and I wake up." She laughed a little and yawned. "I hope you have a pretty good idea as to where we should be going next…"

"Well, I noticed each guardian seems to be stronger than the last. I think the first thing we should do is get some help. And I know just who we need and where to find them."

"This should be interesting…" she said, sinking back in her seat again. He laughed as he drove a little faster. "I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you," he said. "It won't take us too much longer to get there."

"And where are we going exactly?"

"I have a friend who lives at a space station over in the Nundac Asteroid Ring. I'm sure she and her friends will be willing to help us out." She nodded and relaxed, looking out at the stars and planets that they passed as she waited for them to arrive at the space station.

"Get in there, you worthless bucket of bolts!" the Shraalite commander cried, tossing Clank back into the cell. The Fongoid ran up to his side and helped him up as the commander reactivated the laser field, locking them in the cell. "We'll find your friends…with or without your help!" He then walked away, most likely to gather more information about the two Lombaxes.

"Are you okay?" the Fongoid asked. Clank nodded. "What happened?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. After that troop carried you off, all I could hear was Zarthon yelling something about the heart…I was hoping you knew what was going on.""That would take some time to explain…"

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, and by the looks of it, neither are you. We've got plenty of time…" Clank thought about it for a moment, then nodded and began explaining the situation to the Fongoid.

"So, this is it?" Venus asked as the two landed on an asteroid outside the space station.

"Yep," Ratchet replied. "Impressive, huh? Wait 'til you see the inside!"

"Exactly how do we get inside?""By using that." He pointed towards the teleport cannon not far from them. The two leapt out of the ship and Ratchet walked over to the cannon. "What is this thing?" she asked, following him.

"It's a teleport cannon," he replied, stepping onto the platform. "It's the easiest way to get to the elevator. I'll go first so you can see how to work it." He aimed the cannon at the one below them, right next to the elevator into the space station. After that, she jumped as he floated up slightly and then was shot through the ring of the cannon. "Ratchet?" she said a moment later. "Where are you?""Down here, genius!" She looked down at the other teleport cannon and saw him jumping off the platform of it. "Think you can handle it?"

"Uh…sure…" She sounded unsure, but stepped onto the platform and did the same as he did.

She stumbled off the platform and followed him to the elevator. "You okay?" Ratchet laughed. She nodded, holding her head in her hand. "Yeah…" she said. "Just a…a little dizzy is all…is it normal that the teleport thing made me feel kinda tingly?""Don't worry, that's normal. Hope you don't mind elevator rides.""I wouldn't know. I grew up around stairs, not elevators." She followed him onto the elevator. "I should probably warn you," he began. "This thing moves kinda fast…""What?" Before anything more was said, the elevator shot up and brought them to the upper floor.

Stepping out of the elevator, she leaned up against the wall and looked out at the terrarium. "You really weren't kidding, were you, Ratch?" she said, amazed at the plant life inside. "This is incredible."

"I told ya," he said.

"But where are your friends?" He shrugged. "They're probably running around somewhere in the terrarium," he replied. "We'll find them sooner or later. It shouldn't be to hard."

"Miss Talwyn! Come quick!" they heard an elderly voice shout. "He's back! I can see him!"

"Who was that?" Venus asked.

"Probably Zephyr by the sound of it…" he replied. "Just so you know, there's two ancient war bots here. They're a little…eccentric…" Suddenly, a red war bot came running at them, followed by a slightly taller blue one and a dark-haired girl. "Hey there, rookie!" Zephyr said, obviously ecstatic to see the Lombax. "Long time, no see!"Ratchet!" the girl said, embracing him. "It's great to see you again! We've all been so worried about you! Where've you been?"

"Oh, you know. Here, there, stopping an evil mastermind from destroying the universe. The usual."

"That's the usual for you?" Venus said. Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr looked over at her. "Another Lombax?!" Cronk shouted in shock. "I though you were the last of 'em, rookie!"

"So did I until I met her," Ratchet said. "Guys, this is Venus. Venus, this is Cronk, Zephyr, and Talwyn Apogee; the friends I told you about earlier." She nodded and said, "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"You guys have to tell us what's been going on!" Talwyn said, looking at them both. "We've been wondering what happened to you, Ratchet. And as for you, Venus, Ratchet's the only Lombax we've ever seen. Come on. Terrarium's right this way." They nodded and followed the three into the terrarium, where Ratchet saw a rather unexpected face smiling at him.

"Hey, Ratchet!" called Captain Qwark, running up to the Lombax. "Great to see you!""Oh, great…" Ratchet sighed. _I was hoping the war grok ate him…_Venus walked up next to him, looking at him curiously. "And…who's this?" she asked. Qwark looked from Ratchet over to Venus. Catching her off guard, he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer to him, and said, "I see you made a new friend." Venus glared at him, her ears drooped. "Dream on, loser," she said. She then proceeded to kick him (A/N: I'm sure you can guess where). He lay on the ground, doubled over in pain. Cronk and Zephyr laughed as they watched the defeated 'hero' moaning as he tried to get up. "Nice kick," Ratchet laughed, walking up next to her.

"You seem to know how to defend yourself!" Talwyn laughed. As Venus laughed along with her, Talwyn noticed two things; the scratch on Venus's face and that one member of the team was missing. "Wait a minute…" she began, catching the attention of the two Lombaxes. "Venus, what happened to our face? And where's Clank? Ratchet, Qwark told us you found him." Ratchet's look of amusement soon turned to one of sadness. Venus looked at him, then at Talwyn. "The answers to both those questions will be in the explanation," she said.

"Before anything," Ratchet began. "Talwyn, do you have a first aid kit around anywhere?""Yeah," she replied. She walked away to find it. "You can tell us what happened when I get back." They nodded as she ran off.

"So that's what Zarthon's after!" the Fongoid said as Clank finished explaining. The robot nodded. "I cannot let him get it!" he said, strong determination in his voice. "That is why I need to find a way back to Ratchet!"

"Believe me, I'd help you if I could. But I already told you, it's impossible." Clank remembered what he had said not too long before. He hung his head defeated. Then, they heard an announcement over the intercom. "Now traveling to Polaris Galaxy," came the feminine voice of a computer. "All personnel, prepare for warp drive."

"The Polaris Galaxy?" the Fongoid said. "Why would we go there?" Clank thought for a moment, then remembered what Venus had said about the amulets.

_It's not gonna be easy to find them. Two are here in the Breegus System…but the other two are somewhere back in Polaris._

"The amulets!" Clank said to himself. He looked over at the Fongoid. "They are after my friends!" They suddenly felt the whole warship move very quickly, obviously already in warp drive. "Now entering Polaris Galaxy," came the voice again. Clank, looking to the cell's laser field, noticed the commander walking towards them. He looked down at the robot. "You know," he began. "you've been giving us all one heck of a headache over something so insignificant…who is it you're trying to save, hmm? You're little furball friends?!" The commander laugh maliciously. "Tell ya what; you tell us where they are, and we'll just skin them alive, rather than completely mutilate them! What do ya say?"

"I will never tell you!" Clank replied. The commander growled, lowered the laser field, and grabbed Clank by the neck. The Fongoid tried running to his aid, but before he did, the commander reactivated the field. He then looked back at Clank. "You're really starting to get on my last nerve!"

"I did not know that you had any to begin with!" The commander growled louder and placed one clawed hand atop the robot's head. "I could do it, ya know," he said. "I could do it without even breaking a sweat. And no one would remember you, you worthless pile of scrap metal!"

"Commander!" shouted a voice from behind him. The commander whirled around to find his captain walking slowly towards him. "Captain!" he said, standing at attention. "What are you-""Release him immediately," the captain interrupted.

"With all due respect, sir-""Put him back in the cell! If he won't talk, he won't talk. His friends will still come looking for him eventually." The commander growled in protest, but complied. He lowered the field again. He then held Clank up to see eye-to-eye with him. "You got lucky this time, robot!" He threw him inside, and the robot hit the wall and bounced off, landing with a clank to the ground. He sat up and looked back at the commander and captain. "We'll find the Lombaxes," the commander said. "And the heart!" He reactivated the field again and walked away with his captain. _Oh, dear…_Clank thought.

_Ratchet, Venus…please, be careful…_

"That blasted serpent…" Venus grunted as Ratchet tended to the wound on her face. "The thing had fins like razors…Ow!" She looked over at Ratchet. "I'm sorry!" he said defensively. "It's probably gonna be pretty painful!""I know…""You gonna be all right?" Talwyn asked as she, Qwark, and the two war bots sat around them. Venus nodded. "A little pain every now and then never…well, never kill anyone, anyway…" Her cheek twitched in pain as he finished cleaning the wound. After that, he bandaged it, careful not to make it any more painful than it already had to be. "That should do it," he said once he was finished.

"Thanks, Ratch," she said.

"Where are you two going next?" Cronk asked.

"I was kinda hoping you could help us out with that…I don't know any of the planets here. You three would know this galaxy way better than me, I'm sure.""I'm not gonna argue with that!" Zephyr laughed.

"Zephyr, no offense, but we can joke around later. Right now, we need to figure out where we should be looking for those last two amulets. Now, I think it'd be much more efficient if we were to break up into groups and search two separate planets. Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr, you three figure out where the emerald amulet would most likely be and search there. Ratchet and I will go look for the ruby amulet.""Hey!" Qwark protested. "What about me?!" Venus sighed, annoyed at the so-called "hero's" rather immature attitude. "Well, Qwark," she began as if she were talking to a five-year-old. "I think it'd be just wonderful if you'd guard the station. After all, it'd be foolish to leave it empty like this. And I'm sure we'd all feel so much better if we knew a great superhero such as yourself were guarding the place." She looked at her four companions. The all nodded, smiling widely. Qwark laughed. "Well," he began. "If you insist-"

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and an explosion from outside the station. "What was that?!" Talwyn said as they all got up. After that, Venus heard an alarmingly familiar roar. "Oh, no…" she said. Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr looked at her curiously. "What is it?" Cronk asked.

"Shraalites!" she replied, taking her sword out from where it hung at her hip.

"In English, please," Zephyr said.

"No, they're called Shraalites! And they're vicious, cold-blooded predators! We have to get out of here now! Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr, you guys go! We'll radio you as soon as we leave!" The three nodded and ran off to the teleport pad. Venus then turned to Ratchet and Qwark. "You guys get out, too!" she said. "I'll take care of our little friends here!" Suddenly, six Shraalite troops burst through the wall and glared at Venus menacingly.

Before Ratchet had the time to protest, she ran forward, slashing on of the troops across the chest. It roared as her sword glowed and released a whip-like stream of energy. She looked back at the two, the whip waving around in the air from its own energy, and said, "What are you waiting for? Go! Now!"

"W-well, you heard her, R-Ratchet," Qwark stammered, grabbing his arm. "Let's go!""No," he said. "I'm not gonna let her do this on her own! Qwark, there's a black Lombaxian ship out on one of the asteroids! Get there and wait for us! We'll be there as soon as we can!" He ran forward to help her as Qwark ran off to the teleport pad.

She swung the whip, hitting four of the troops and knocking them back into the other two. She then noticed Ratchet running forward, striking one of the troops with his wrench. "Ratchet, what are you doing?!" Venus demanded, slashing away two more troops as they leapt at her.

"You don't think I'm gonna let you have all the fun, do you?""I've said it before, and I'll say it again-""I know, I know; I'm a suicidal maniac."

"Precisely…" The six troops then got up and surrounded them. The two stood back-to-back, each holding their weapon out in front of them. "Well, isn't this a rather familiar scene?" Venus said, referring to the troops that surrounded them before they left Quantos.

"I'll say," Ratchet agreed. "Except this time, there's nowhere to run.""Let's just see how good a fighter you really are, Savior Boy!"

On of the troops roared again and leapt toward Ratchet. He swung his wrench in an attempt to knock it away, but narrowly missed, and the troop pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. Before it had the chance to attack any more, Venus cracked the whip across its back; the attack had obviously broken its back, as it fell paralyzed onto Ratchet. He pushed it away, then looked wide-eyed at Venus. "Look out!" he shouted.

Without giving it a second thought, she turned and slashed the three attackers across the chest, this time deep enough to kill them. "Four down, two to go," she said, helping him up. "My life just keeps getting more and more interesting by the minute."

"Better get used to it, Ve," he said. "Things are gonna be a whole lot different for you from now on." She nodded and said, "Ready to kick some tail?" He laughed as the two ran forward towards the last two troops.

Qwark had easily found the ship; even for one as imbecilic as him, it wasn't hard to find a Lombax ship, considering how uncommon they were since the Lombaxes left. He sat on the hood of the ship, waiting for the two Lombaxes. After waiting for what seemed like forever, he began wondering if he should just take the ship and leave.

Just before he made up his mind to leave, he saw a figure flying towards him.

Venus set Ratchet down next to the ship as the cockpit opened. She jumped into the driver seat, Ratchet taking his place in the passenger seat. After that, Qwark somehow managed to squeeze himself in between the two. "This is gonna be a problem…" Ratchet said as he was pressed up against the windshield to his side.

Venus pushed Qwark's arm out of her face and gasped; more of the Shraalite troops were coming for them. "We can complain about this later!" she said, flying off as fast as she could. The Shraalites roared as they watched the ship fly off to an unknown destination.

"Ratchet," Venus began, pressed up rather uncomfortably against her side of the ship. "Do me a favor and radio Talwyn, would ya?" He nodded and did as instructed.

"Who is this?" came Talwyn's voice.

"I'll give ya one guess," Ratchet replied.

"Ratchet, it's you!""You might wanna make a note of that," Venus began. "My ship's signature is 7479-Delta."

"Got it. Where should we start looking.""Hang on a sec." Venus stirred; she currently found it rather difficult to breathe. "Qwark, get you elbow out of my ribcage!"

"Sorry," he said, moving his arm.

"On a more important note, I need to know which planet in this galaxy bets represents the power of fire. Think you could point me in the right direction, Talwyn?"

"If I were you, I'd start with Rykan V. Check around the lava refineries and go from there. I'm uploading coordinates to your ship. In the meantime, Cronk, Zephyr, and I will check Sargasso. If it's not there, we'll check out Jasindu.""Good. And if you guys run into any trouble, or if you find anything of any significance, radio us right away, got it?"

"Got it. Talwyn out." Venus reached over to turn it off, but she couldn't reach past Qwark. "Hey, Ratch…" she sighed. "I don't suppose you could turn that off for me, could you?" He nodded and turned it off. "Can you see any of those enemy ships, Ratch?""I can't see much of anything right now," he grunted. "Qwark, get out of my face!"

"Hostile ships detected," came Atrion's voice.

"That's it. I'm putting her in warp drive." Just before the enemy ships shot at her thrusters, she warped off for Rykan V.

Took a little longer than I'd hoped to update this, but I haven't been getting too much time on the computer lately. Busy, busy, busy. Anyway, R&R! :)


	7. Chapter 7: Guardian of the Flames

Good Lord, it's amazing to me how much support people are giving me for this! That you all so much! Free cookies for everyone! *hands out cookies* XD

Enjoy!

* * *

Venus looked out at the volcano-ridden planet of Rykan V as they neared the planet's surface, slight fear evident in her eyes. "So, this is it?" she said, her voice shaking.

"Yep," Ratchet replied. "Hope you don't mind extreme heat…"

"Shouldn't be much of a problem. Let's just get down there before my limbs brake off." She flew down faster as Qwark tried moving into a position that would be more comfortable for him, and much less comfortable for the two Lombaxes.

--

Clank paced around the cell, still worrying about his friends. He couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds thinking about what the troops might have already done to the two.

"Just relax," the Fongoid said in an attempt to calm the robot. "I'm sure your friends will be just fine."

"Neither one of us can be sure of that," Clank replied, still staring down at the ground.

"Sir, this is getting ridiculous. Calm down. If your friends are as tough as you say, they should be fine."

Clank finally looked up at the Fongoid and sighed. "I suppose you are right…" he said. "Ratchet is stronger than that…" Nonetheless, he couldn't stop wondering what the two were up to. With the Shraalite captain in pursuit of them, not to mention the fact that the troops were more than likely hunting them down, he knew that even they were in terrible danger.

Once again, he heard one of the troops walking up to the cell. He turned to face it just as it lowered the laser field. Before he had time to react, it grabbed him by the neck and carried him off without a word, reactivating the field as he left. Clank sighed. _Not again…_he thought.

--

It didn't take them long to land on the planet. The two Lombaxes struggled to get out of the ship as the cockpit opened. It was easier for Venus to get out than it was for Ratchet, though not by much. "Qwark," he began as she walked a few feet in front of the ship. "You're crushing my lungs…" Qwark didn't say anything; he just struggled to get out of Atrion, which was evidently much too small for him. Venus sighed as she heard him fall to the ground after escaping the cockpit.

"As long as no one dented my ship…" Venus sighed as she turned around to face them. Qwark quickly got up as Ratchet jumped out of the ship.

"Still can't feel my legs…" Ratchet said as he staggered over to her.

"Never mind that, Ratch. We need to move. Now."

"Where to, Venus?" they heard Qwark ask.

She looked from Ratchet over to Qwark, trying to think of an excuse for him to stay behind. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Well, Qwark…I was thinking maybe you could stay here and guard my ship. I did, after all, work so hard on it and wouldn't want anyone to come along and vandalize it."

"If you say so," Qwark said, shrugging as he sat down on the hood.

"And don't dent her, got it? I put a lot of work into her!" She then turned around again to face the environment around her, consisting of nothing more or less that several rock islands in a sprawling lake of lava, each one having sporadic plant life on it. She found that Ratchet was right; naturally, the heat was intense. She walked over to the edge of the rock platform they were now standing on. "This would definitely be the ideal place for the ruby amulet…" she said as Ratchet walked up behind her.

"You picking anything up on your nav unit?" Ratchet asked. At first, she didn't respond; she just stood there, looking thoughtful. Then, she said, "Actually, there is an unusual energy signature…over that way." She pointed to her right. There was no land in that direction, meaning they would have to fly again.

"Here we go again," he sighed as she hovered in the air above him, picking him up by the arms. "Whatever you do, don't drop me!"

"Don't worry about that, Ratch! You should now by know I have a very firm grip!"

"I'll say! You're cutting off the circulation to my arms!"

"Oh, quit whining already!" Qwark just watched as they flew off.

* * *

The commander, once again, threw Clank into what he had assumed was the captain's quarters. It hadn't surprised him this time; by now it had become routine for the robot to be thrown about like an old shoe. He was wondering what he had done this time, however. He sat up after the commander walked in and closed the door. The both of them looked over to the captain, standing across the room. The captain looked back at them, fury evident in his eyes as he walked over to the robot and took him up by the arm. "My patience is wearing thin, robot…" he growled. "You know where your 'friends' are going. Now, either you tell me, or I'll kill you myself!"

"Even if I did know, I would never tell you!" Clank said, his eyes narrowing. "You cannot use the heart! If you do, it will destroy everything!"

"That's the point, genius!"

Clank looked at him in shock, but before he could ask any further questions, the captain tossed him into a small cage and carried him out of the room. Before long, Clank found himself being carried into one of the ships in the hangar. "What is this?" he demanded. The captain glared down at him as he boarded the ship. Clank didn't quite understand what he meant when he spoke.

"Live bait."

* * *

"Venus, are you sure you know where you're going?" Ratchet asked as she flew past several more rock islands. They had been flying for what seemed like forever, most of the time in silence up until now. She looked down, nodded, and said, "It's not too far now." She looked ahead, her ears drooping, and hovered in place for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Ratchet asked.

"Uh…" she began. "We may have a slight problem…""And that would be…?"

"The energy signature I told you about?" He nodded as she continued. "It's coming from right over there…" She pointed in front of them. He looked ahead and saw why she looked so worried. The only thing in front of them was a towering volcano, lava and smoke spewing from the top.

"And how exactly are we supposed to get in there?" he asked. She didn't say anything; she just lowered a visor from her helmet and stared at the volcano. "Well? What're you doing?"

"Running a thermal scan on this thing," she replied, flying to the left. "If there's anywhere we can enter here, it won't be nearly as hot as the rest of it." She stopped suddenly and smiled. "And I think I've found it." She flew towards the volcano, setting Ratchet down on the slope just before she landed a few feet away from him.

"I don't know about you," Ratchet began as she looked around the ground. "but I don't see anything here."

"Not yet, anyway," she said. "Just give me a minute." Her ears perked up and she hovered above the ground for a moment. Without warning, she kicked down hard on the ground below her, shattering the obviously weak layer of rock. Ratchet shielded his face as the debris flew about before settling to the ground.

"What the heck was that?!" he coughed as she landed. She pointed down to where she had struck the ground. He looked down and saw there was a wide passageway there now.

"That would be our point of entry," she said, walking inside. He followed close behind her. The inside of the passage was nearly pitch-black. A few red gems hung from the ceiling. As would be expected, it was like a furnace inside, making it difficult to breathe.

"I just hope you know what you're doing…" Ratchet said.

"Yeah…" she agreed. "Me too…"

* * *

"I demand you tell me where you are taking me immediately!" Clank said as the captain piloted the ship through the stars. The Shraalite glared down at him.

"You're in no position to demand anything, rust bucket!" he growled. "If I wanted to, I could just kill you now. But that would ruin everything."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you honestly think I'd tell you? Now just shut up before I shoot you out the ejector seat!" The captain glared forward once more as Clank fell silent.

* * *

"This is getting ridiculous…" Venus sighed, her forehead drenched in sweat as they continued on through the passage. "I can see why something like this amulet would be sealed in a volcano…perfect defenses."

"I think I see a light down there," Ratchet said. He was right; there was a dim red light just ahead of them. They both assumed it was where the amulet was hidden and ran forward, quickly making there way to the end of the tunnel.

The large chamber they now found themselves in was lit up by a red light at the other side. There were several small streams of magma flowing from the walls. The light at the other side was suspended over a pool of magma, a stone pedestal in the center of it. The two looked around as the ground shook beneath them. "Come on, Ratch," Venus said, walking forward. "Let's get that amulet and get outta here. Orvus knows this place is gonna blow any minute."

"Stop where you are!" a voice roared from somewhere in the chamber. Venus froze in her tracks. "You cannot have the amulet!"

"Who's there?" she demanded, drawing her sword. "Show yourself, coward!"

"You dare to insult _me_?! You will pay, Lombax!" Suddenly, some of the magma from the pool came flying out in several small streams. Each one swirled around quickly in front of her, creating a tall, wide tower of magma. A pair of glowing red eyes could be seen within the towering streams, and a mighty roar was heard once more before something burst out of the magma, sending it flying all over the walls of the chamber. She shielded herself with her wings for a moment, then looked in front of her in awe.

Standing there in front of them was a towering serpentine dragon, its scales red and glistening like gems. On either side of its nose, it had long, whisker-like extensions, each one waving gently in the air around it, despite the fact that there was no wind. It had a golden yellow-colored mane running from the middle of its snout and extending to the tip it its tail, the same colored mane being on its yellow chest and underbelly, chin, and forearms. It glared at them with blood-red eyes and bared its sharp fangs as it dug its yellow claws into the ground. Unlike the first two guardians, rather than using telepathy, it spoke using its own deep voice.

"You are trespassing," it said. "Be gone! For I am among the most powerful creatures in this universe!"

"We don't want any-" Venus began. The dragon cut her off.

"Silence, Lombax! Don't try to deceive me! I know what your intentions are!"

"Why do I even bother trying to explain myself to these things?" She then turned to Ratchet. "Hope you're ready for another fight."

"I'm always ready!" he said, walking to her side

The dragon looked at them it slight disgust. "So…that is how you want it?" it said. "Then so be it!" It crouched and growled for a moment, then let out an ear-shattering screech. The two Lombaxes covered their ears as it continued screeching.

"What the heck is it doing?!" Ratchet shouted over the screeching.

"Aside from giving us both severe headaches?" Venus answered. "Not a clue!"

Suddenly, the dragon swung its tail at them, knocking them away from it and into the wall behind them. "What the…" Ratchet said as they staggered back up.

"I think…that dragon uses the screech to stun its enemies before attacking…" Venus said.

"You catch on pretty quick, don't you, Lombax?" the dragon smiled. "You should just face it; you can't defeat me. Even if you try your hardest, you won't succeed." It stalked forward, a wide grin on its face. "So why not give up? Go home, young Lombaxes. Leave the amulet."

"We can't!" Venus protested. "If you'd just listen to us-"

"I'll listen to none of your malicious lies! Leave now, or die!"

"I won't lose to you!" Venus leapt forward, her sword releasing the whip of light, and she swung it across the dragon's face. It growled as its face bled, then it glared at her. It lunged forward, attempting to grasp her in its jaws, but she jumped out of the way and landed near its left front foot. She slashed its legs, causing it to shriek in pain. It glared at her, threw its head up, and roared. Suddenly, streams of lava from the walls flew at her, chasing her as she dodged them.

After jumping once more, the dragon wrapped one of its whiskers around her tightly, grabbing her and pulling her to its face. "I've had about enough of you, furball!" it roared. It then released a jet of flame from its mouth that melted the rock above them. A strange magic surrounding its body allowed it to fly safely through the magma, creating what was almost like a tunnel through it, as it carried her out the top of the volcano.

Dodging the magma that poured from the ceiling, Ratchet activated his hoverboots and thrust himself through the tunnel as quick as possible, the flow of magma not far behind him. He looked horrified as he neared the entrance only to find that the dragon had caused some of the rock to start falling in front of his only way out. He rushed to make it out before one last boulder fell into the entrance. He jumped out of the way just before the magma burst through the rocks. He looked up to find the volcano erupting much more violently than before. Then suddenly, the dragon burst out of the lava, grasping Venus in its claws. It glared at her, baring its fangs. She struggled to get free almost as much as she struggled to breathe. All he could do was watch in desperation.

"Now you will regret ever coming here, Lombax!" the dragon growled. It was about to strike when it noticed her necklace glowing a soft blue. A soft voice could be heard from somewhere nearby.

_I'll handle this, Venus…_came a feminine voice. The dragon looked around alarmed as streams of water flowed up from the nearby rock islands. They surrounded her and wrapped around the dragon's arm. The dragon roared in pain and released her as she was surrounded in a huge ball of water, cooling and hardening the lava around them. The figure inside the ball changed from the figure of a Lombax to that of a large serpentine creature. After a moment, a pair of glowing blue eyes glared at the dragon. A roar was heard - it was obviously not the dragon's roar, for it was a bit higher-pitched - and the creature burst out of the water, sending much of it flying at the dragon. It shrieked as the water burned its scales, then looked forward at his new opponent.

The serpent from the lake at Gimlick Valley.

"You!" the dragon roared. "What are you doing here?!"

_You must let them pass. _was all the serpent said in response. _Their intentions are without malice._

"Why should I believe you?! You've joined _them_! You are now an enemy!"_I am not the enemy! You don't understand!_

"Silence!" The dragon lunged forward again, this time attempting to slash the serpent's throat. Before it did, however, the serpent threw its tailfin up and sent up a wall of water. The dragon crashed right into it, burning much of its face and its right hand. It roared again, but before it got the chance to attack again, the serpent covered its long fins with blades of water and slashed it across the throat. The serpent then wrapped its tail around the dragon's body, leapt up into the air, and crashed through what was once lava, which was now rock, and into the chamber they were in before. It crashed the dragon down onto the ground. The serpent stared plainly at the dragon as it coughed. The serpent then looked to the tunnel on the other side of the room. _Ratchet! _it said, slithering over to the entrance and quickly making its way to the outer opening, which was still covered in boulders.

Try as he might, Ratchet couldn't move even a single rock. He sighed and sat off to the side of the opening, deciding to wait for her to come out.

Suddenly, the blue serpent burst from out of the rock, opening the entrance to the chamber once more. It looked at him as he stared back in shock. "Venus?" he said.

_I know, this is getting pretty weird…_he heard Venus's voice mixed in with the slightly higher voice of the serpent. _It's just as weird for me as it is for you. Come on. Let's get that amulet and check back with Talwyn._ He nodded and followed as the serpent slithered back into the tunnel. When they came in to find the dragon still lying on the ground, Ratchet stared in amazement; the serpent smirked at it. The dragon opened one eye weakly as the two moved closer to it. _I'll let you two take it from here. _the serpent said as it began glowing with a blue light. Similar to what the bird had done before, it burst into a shower of blue scales, leaving behind nothing but a ball of blue light and a staggering Lombax girl, who once again was glowing with a dim light. This time, Venus didn't fall over when the light reentered her necklace. She looked from Ratchet down to the dragon on the ground.

"Venus, was it?" the dragon asked. She nodded as it continued. "Consider me the newest member of your team. You have proven your worth - you have defeated me." It glowed a brilliant bright red, then disappeared into a red ball of light, which then, like the others, flew into her necklace. For a moment after that, it glowed a dim red before the light died down. They looked across the room to the pool of magma, the red light still glowing from the pedestal in the center. She walked over to it and reached her hand out towards it.

She suddenly felt something lightly touch her hand. Assuming it was the amulet, she gently wrapped her hand around it and removed it from the light. The gem in the center of it was cut into a three-pronged shape, the longest one being the middle. It felt warm to the touch, almost as if it were fire itself. she stared at it curiously for a moment before Ratchet caught her attention.

"I'm getting a transmission," he said as she turned to face him. "I think it's from Talwyn." Venus could here it too.

"Ratchet. Venus. Are you there?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're here," Ratchet replied. "You guys find the amulet?"

"Well, we found out where it most likely is. But there is a slight problem…"

"Let me guess," Venus began. "There's a giant murderous creature guarding it and it won't let you through, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"We need to know where you three are," Ratchet interrupted. "Tell us that, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"We're on Sargasso. In front of a cave near one of the gelatinous plants. Venus, I'm uploading coordinates to your ship now."

"Got it. We'll be there soon. In the meantime, you guys find somewhere to hide from whatever it is that's guarding it. Ratchet and Venus out." He looked over at her as she held the amulet. "Let's get going." She nodded as they walked out of the tunnel and out once again into the harsh volcanic environment. She then took him by the arms and flew back to Qwark and Atrion.

When they got back, they found Qwark asleep on the hood of the ship. Atrion noticed they were finally back. "It's about time you two showed up!" she said. "Qwark snores like a Bargain Snagglebeast!"

"Up and at 'em, Qwark!" Venus shouted, shocking Qwark out of his slumber. He screamed and fell off Atrion's hood. Venus shook her head as she and Ratchet walked closer to the ship. Qwark got up and brushed the dirt off himself.

"You two get it?" he asked. Venus nodded and held up the amulet for him to see.

Before Qwark tried to grab it, Venus handed it to Ratchet. "I'm not sure I'd trust you with this, Qwark," she said. Then, she looked at Ratchet. "When we get in, could you do me a favor and put this in the glove compartment?" He nodded as they walked over to the ship. The cockpit opened, and Venus jumped into the driver seat, Ratchet jumping in next to her. After the two Lombaxes got in, Qwark squeezed into the passenger seat next to Ratchet, pressing him up against Venus. They looked at each other, Venus's ears drooping. Then she looked forward as the ship rose into the air.

"Qwark, can you please try to move your arm?!" Ratchet said.

"Not really!" Qwark whined.

"This is gonna be unpleasant…" Venus sighed. "I'm glad this thing has warp drive…" She then warped off to Sargasso, hoping she would be able to move by the time they reached the planet.

_______________

I'm kinda tired…(completely random statement…XD)


	8. Chapter 8: Guardian of Stone

Before you people read this and flip out on me for not updating for so long, let me explain. What first started my lack of activity was nothing more than a lack of motivation. After that, my computer crashed, and I had to wait a couple of months before I got it back. But now, I will update as much as possible! Yay!

Anjoy and please review.

* * *

"Qwark, get your elbow out of my ribs!" Ratchet growled as the ship slowly settled on the overgrown earth of Planet Sargasso. "I can't breathe!"

"What am I supposed to do about it?" Qwark whined in response. "I can hardly move!" Before they could take their argument any further, they noticed the cockpit of the ship was open, and the white Lombax girl stood by its side. "You two can come out any time you like," she said. "Watch your step, though. I think I stood in something when I jumped out of the ship." Before either one of them could ask how she got out without them noticing, she turned to find Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr speeding towards them, the two elderly warbots trailing behind their companion.

"What took you guys so long?" Talwyn asked as the robots caught up with her. "We've been waiting for you forever!"

"I'm sure it couldn't have been all that long," Venus replied nonchalantly. Her ears suddenly perked up when she heard the grunt of Ratchet falling out of the ship, followed by the loud thud of Qwark landing on top of him. She sighed, her ears drooping, turned to face them, and commanded, "Qwark, off the Lombax." He looked confused for a moment, then noticed a yellow fluffy tail swishing underneath him. Venus turned to face Talwyn once more as Qwark got off of Ratchet. "I'm surrounded by idiots," she sighed as her fellow Lombax brushed the dirt off himself.

"You'll get used to the green guy," Talwyn replied.

"One can only hope. So, where did you find the amulet?" Talwyn motioned to her right, toward the gaping mouth of a huge cave in the side of a moss-covered cliff. Vines and the roots of trees hung down, nearly blocking all entrance to the interior. Though it was nearly pitch-black, she could make out a dim green light shining from somewhere within. "Well," she began, clapping her hands together. "let's get started, shall we?"

"Ooh, what can I do?" Qwark said excitedly, bouncing up and down like a child. The Lombax girl sighed, rather annoyed with the immature so-called "hero". She turned to face him again and said as gently as she possibly could, "Could I ask you to please guard my ship again, Qwark?"

"Why can't I come?"

"Well…uh…these guardians are only getting stronger and stronger as we collect the amulets. And this is the last one, which leads me to believe that this will be the strongest one yet. And we wouldn't want anything to happen to you, now, would we?"

"If you insist." With that, he once again sat on the hood of the ship. She hummed discontentedly as his weight pressed down hard on her. She growled displeased as Ratchet walked up to her side. "I think we should go," she said, glaring at Qwark. "before I lose my temper with this guy…" Qwark looked at her curiously as they walked off toward the cave.

* * *

At long last, the shipped landed on the earth of the Shraalite captain's destination. Humming as its engine shut down, its cockpit opened wide. The Shraalite stepped nimbly out of the ship, carrying Clank in the tiny metal cage. The robot glared up at the reptilian creature in disgust, then looked out at the landscape that lay before him.

They had landed on Jasindu - it was evident by the vast number of Kerchu scurrying around the city like rats with metal armor. But all that was once green and thriving plant life had been destroyed. As he looked out at Kerchu City, he saw what the Kerchu were running from. Hundreds upon hundreds of Shraalite forces had stormed the city, destroying everything and everyone in their path. Some of the citizens fled in fear; others, mostly the braver ones, fought back at the troops, most of them falling in defeat. Countless Kerchu carcasses lay strewn upon the ground. Many still had the look of fear plastered on their faces, even while in the silent clutches of death. The robot stared in horror as his captor started off for the city.

He looked around as the Shraalite captain walked nonchalantly through the burning city streets as if nothing were happening. Buildings tumbled around him as the terrified shrieks of the citizens echoed through the city. The robot looked from his surroundings to the Shraalite, glaring at his own surroundings as if the citizens of the city itself were to blame for the chaos that had ensued. "You monster!" Clank snapped, catching the captain's attention. He glared down at the cage, his eyes narrowing as he continued. "You are nothing more than a murderer!"

"You should tune down that vocal modulator of yours before I rip it out myself!" he snarled in response, slamming the cage hard on the ground. "You're lucky I need you for my plans, or I would kill you right here and now!" He grunted, picked the cage up off the ground, and continued on his journey through the city. They soon neared a tall, barren plateau overlooking the city. Above it, there were black and dark purple clouds swirling, lightning crashing violently as the earth that held it up slowly crumbled from the bottom up. "Where are you taking me?" Clank demanded.

"That's for me to know," he began, looking back down at him. "and for you to find out."

* * *

After wandering chopping the vines out of the way, Venus lead the others into the darkness of the cave. "How are we supposed to see in here?" Ratchet said, struggling to see more than six inches in front of his face. He looked over at Venus, who gently tapped her crystal sword on the rocky earth beneath her. Slowly, it illuminated, though rather dimly. Nonetheless, it offered them some light to see in front of them. She held it toward the walls of the cave; there were many ancient paintings on them. Though faded, she could still make out what they were. Many had to do with the Dragon Leviathan and the four Elemental Guardians. A large, magnificent bird soaring through the air; a long serpent raising the oceans, swelling the waves; a serpentine dragon raising volcanoes from the ground, each one spewing lava and gases as it came. And one final painting-this one she couldn't quite understand, for it was nothing more than a dark figure with bright green eyes, long white fangs bared. It seemed so genuine, so real…it almost seemed to be staring into her own soul. She lost herself in it for a moment until Ratchet walked up to her and looked curiously at her. "Something wrong, Ve?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she said, her eyes still glued to the painting of the dark figure. "It feels like it, and yet it doesn't…"

"You know, I really think you've been working too hard…"

"Forget I said anything," she laughed, shaking her head and turning away from the paintings. "Let's go get this over with." He wasn't quite convinced that she didn't have more to say, but figured he wouldn't pry and followed her and the others as they walked toward the dim green light.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a large room similar to the one on Rykan V, the only difference being the lack of lava. Green crystals hung from the roof of the cavern, some of them so loose they seemed to almost threaten to fall on them at any given second, all of them glowing dimly. On the other side of the room, a shaft of sunlight poured in from a hole in the roof. In the light was yet another pedestal-this was also where the dim green light had been emanating from. Ratchet's ears perked up and he stepped toward the pedestal. "I'd be careful if I were you, Ratch…" Venus said cautiously, holding her sword out in front of her as if her foe stood before her. "Remember the others. It's never this easy."

"Well, maybe the Dragon Leviathan decided to cut us a break," he said, turning back toward her. He jumped when suddenly a laugh echoed through the room. "How delusional of you to even think such a thing," came a menacing, feminine voice. After that, the light coming from the crystals, as well as from Venus's sword, faded away, and the sunlight pouring in through the hole disappeared, leaving them in complete darkness. The laugh echoed through the room again. They looked around, slight fear on their faces, as they prepared for the unknown.

Then, something caught Venus's eye; a pair of bright green eyes to her right, accompanied by a low growl. "Guys!" she said, turning to face it and pointing her sword at it. They all turned and jumped at what they saw. Suddenly, a set of long white fangs could be seen through the pitch darkness around them. After that, the figure glowed with a brilliant green light, which then shot off its body and back into the crystals on the roof. The crystals glowed intensely for a moment, then began falling from the roof of the cave. Venus shielded herself with her wings as Ratchet jumped out of the way of one of the spear-like crystals. Suddenly, chunks of the roof fell down in large pieces. She looked up and saw that the roof was caving in. At first, she thought of leading the others out of the cave, but then saw that their only exit had been blocked by the falling boulders. She knew if she didn't do something, they would be crushed, but she couldn't think of what to do. Despite the face that it was the worst possible time to do so, she slipped into her thoughts, trying to think of something.

"Venus, look out!" Ratchet shouted. She looked first at him, then directly above her. A huge chunk of the roof was falling quickly toward her. She tried to move, but found herself paralyzed with fear. Just before the boulder landed, he leapt toward her and pushed her out of the way. The two landed hard on the ground in front of Talwyn and the two warbots. She quickly got to her feet and looked up; the roof had completely collapsed, and countless boulders were tumbling toward them.

Then, she looked down and noticed something. The bead around her neck was glowing a dim green. In an instant, a huge green sphere of light emitted from it, encasing them in some kind of energy. The boulders fell around them, but never reached them. They looked around in confusion as the boulders surrounded them in a cocoon of stone. "That's never happened before…" Venus said flatly, her ears drooping as she looked around.

"Ve, you are getting weirder and weirder by the minute," Ratchet said, looking from the rocks around them to the white Lombax. She nodded in agreement. Suddenly, the rocks burst into a flurry of fine sand, and the green sphere faded as the sand fell around them. They looked around curiously; some of the roof, including the area where the green-eyed figure stood, was still there. Light poured in through the huge hole in the roof. The green crystals lay buried in the sand, still glowing dimly through the grains.

"Impossible," came the voice from across the room. They looked back to the figure, who stepped into the light. This creature was considerably smaller than the other three - it was only several inches taller than Venus. It resembled a large wolf. Its fur was a light sandy brown, with dark brown fur on the tips of its ears. Its glowing eyes dimmed, revealing their deep, dark green color. It paws, covered in a dark green fur, ended in sharp black claws that dug into the earth. It stared at Venus with wonder and amazement. "So, you've finally come," it said softly. "I was expecting you, but I didn't think you'd awakened your powers so soon."

"What am I to you?" Venus demanded. "How do you know me?"

"I know you all too well, my dear Lombax. I've watched over you ever since you were just a cub."

"Why?"

"Because it was my duty. You are a child of earth, among the strongest elements of all."

"What do you mean by 'child of earth'?"

"Your spirit, Venus. The strength of the earth flows freely within you. You are very brave and very strong. Yet, like the earth, you are a nurturing and compassionate soul. The same way a mother protects her child, you protect those you love." The wolf smiled and continued, "I have been long awaiting this day." Then suddenly, its expression turned much more serious, and the tone of its voice grew more grim. "But I'm afraid this reunion cannot be all pleasant." Venus stepped back, glaring at the wolf as it continued. "I was told you would one day realize your true power." It crouched in preparation for an attack. "Now, it's time to see if that time is now. I was once your guardian. But now, as your enemy, I must put you to the ultimate test of your strength. Prepare yourself, Venus Carapell, for the fight of your life!" It suddenly barked and leapt forward at her, but she jumped away from it and onto the rim of the hole in the roof high overhead. The wolf glared up at her. "Come down here," it began, "and we'll see if you truly are a warrior of earth!"

"With pleasure!" she replied. She quickly flew down toward it, sword in hand, ready to attack. She swiped at it, but it dodged and slammed its strong foreleg into her, knocking her to the ground. "Venus!" Ratchet cried as she slid across the rocky ground before finally stopping. She lay still on one of her mechanical wings for a moment. The wolf looked at her curiously and stepped toward her. The others watched carefully, refusing to believe that the Lombax had been defeated so easily.

As the wolf nudged her with its paw, it smiled to itself, confident that she had lost. "How disappointing," it began, "that such a promising young warrior must fall so easily."

Suddenly, Venus slashed the wolf across its face with her sword with lightning speed. The wolf growled and glared at her as she got to her feet. "Very clever, Lombax," it said. "But now, things get serious!" It barked again, its voice echoing through the cave. Then suddenly, stone pillars shot up around her, each one ending in a spear-like tip. One sprung up from under her just as she jumped up and hung like a bat from the rim of the hole. The wolf, who obviously hadn't seen the Lombax leap due to the dust and debris that had been released by the rising pillars, looked satisfied at the forest of stone before it, believing Venus to be dead.

But as soon as the pillars returned to the ground they had come from, it saw no sign of the Lombax anywhere. Not only that, but it also found that her comrades were no longer standing where they were before. When the dust was still clouding the cave, Venus had flown on silent wings to her friends and brought them to the rim of the opening.

Ratchet looked down at the wolf as it looked around the cave, frustrated that it couldn't find its prey. After a moment, he turned back to the others, who sat away from the ledge. "Looks like Fido still hasn't caught on," he said to Venus.

"Good," she replied, inching toward the ledge, keeping low to the ground. "Keep an eye on the others. I'll take care of our little friend."

"Are you crazy?" Before she replied, she hoisted herself up into the air, sword in hand, then said to him, "No matter what happens, stay down." He didn't have time to respond before she flew back down to fight the wolf.

Her sword glowed with an intense purple light as she flew down. The wolf turned and looked at her just as she landed hard on the rocky ground, slamming her sword as she did. The earth shook for a moment, then a purple-colored wave of energy filled the room, slamming the wolf up against the wall. The shockwave had paralyzed it for a moment, giving Venus an advantage. Just as it looked back at her and prepared to attack, she slashed it across the chest thrice; once with the sharp edges of each wing, and once with her still-glowing sword. It yelped in pain as its blood flowed steadily from the wound. It staggered for a moment as she glared at it, expecting it to fall to the ground like the three guardians before it. It was much stronger than them, however, and stayed standing, growling at her as her friends jumped down from the rim of the hole above them. "You've improved greatly over the years, Venus," it said, blood dripping from its mouth. "But I'm afraid the Fongoids didn't teach you everything." It suddenly jumped toward her, pinning her to the ground, its face just inches away from hers. She managed to hold it back by pressing her sword against its neck. Ratchet stepped toward her, but he froze when she cried, "Don't you dare, Ratchet! This is my fight, not yours!"

He was about to protest when she kicked the wolf off her, sending it across the room, and got to her feet. She stood calmly and stared at it, her ears flattened. "I've got news for you," she said as it growled at her, its fur bristling. "The Fongoids taught me nothing, except that I wasn't welcome there. If you really are my guardian, then you know that they didn't accept me until I saved their chief from those brainless Zyphoids." Her friends looked at her in shock as she continued. "I've had to care for myself most of my life." Streams of energy began swirling around the blade of her sword. Her gaze intensified. "And I'll not lose to you!" The wolf quickly jumped toward her, but she leapt up, raised her sword, and upon landing, slammed it hard onto the ground, releasing a tall vertical wave of energy at it. It slammed it into the wall behind it, crushing its bones. It whimpered as it fell limply to the ground, splinters of bone protruding from its fur.

She walked up to it and knelt down next to it as it coughed up blood and struggled in vain to get up. She gently touched a hand to its head. It finally opened one green eye and looked at her. "You can't fight anymore," she said softly. "Be at peace now. You've done your duty." It smiled and said, "I know I have. My dear Venus, I've always been proud of you…but never have I been more proud than I am here and now." The Lombax smiled softly at it. "You truly are a warrior of earth. I'm confident that you will succeed in your quest to protect the future." It sighed as a brilliant green light emitted from its body. It looked up to the clear blue sky through the hole in the roof. "The Leviathan was right after all…"

"What?" Her ears perked up. But the wolf didn't answer; instead, it disappeared into a ball of green light which, like the other three guardians, flew into the bead around her neck. It glowed dimly for a moment as she stared in a daze at where the wolf once was. Ratchet walked up to her and knelt down next to her. "You okay?" he asked.

"What did it mean?" she said softly.

"Huh?"

"It said something about 'the Leviathan'. What did it mean?"

"I have no idea. But I think we should get that amulet and get out of here before this whole place caves in." She nodded, stood up, and walked toward the pedestal on the other side of the room. "And, by the way," Ratchet began as she reached into the light pouring down upon the pedestal. "Was all that true? About you being alone and having to take care of yourself?"

"Unfortunately, yes," she replied. "Though I was rather popular with the training warriors…though not in the way I would've liked."

"Why's that?"

"I was target practice."

"Oh…" She smiled slightly and said, "I don't regret any of it. If it weren't for that, actually, I probably wouldn't know how to fight now.""Somehow, I find that doesn't make it much better." She shook her head and grabbed the amulet. She looked down at the gold-chained treasure lying in her hand; the emerald set into it was a simple diamond-shaped gem that sparkled in the bright sunlight that poured in through the roof. It mesmerized her, how something so simple could be so beautiful.

"Uh…Venus?" came Talwyn's voice. She turned around to find her pointing up at the large hole in the roof of the cave. She looked up. Peering into the cave was one of the large dinosaur-like Leviathans. It saw them and roared loudly, its breath reeking of rotten meat. she jumped in shock. "Back to the ships!" she shouted as she ran out of the cave, the others following behind.

_Where are they?_ Atrion thought to herself. Though they had only been gone for a little less than and hour, it seemed like an eternity for her, with Qwark sleeping like a baby on her hood.

Finally, she saw them running toward her, Talwyn's ship next to her. She threw Qwark off her hood as Venus skidded to a halt next to her. Qwark, who had finally woken up, stood up and said to Venus, "What took you so long?"

"Do I really have to explain it?" she asked, stroking Atrion's hood as she complained about Qwark.

"Well, you just went into a cave to get a necklace, right? I don't see why that would take so long." She sighed as she and Ratchet clambered into the ship. "Can I please kill him?" she asked jokingly.

"You can do that in your spare time," he replied as Qwark squeezed into the ship next to him. She ignored the pain of being pressed up against the side of the ship and turned to Talwyn and the warbots as they climbed into their ship. "Talwyn," she began. "I need the three of you to do some checking around. Gather as much information as you can about the Shraalites, and radio me if anything comes up. Got it?"

"What about you?" she asked.

"We'll go searching for the heart. If we're going to have any chance against those monsters, we'll need it. You lot watch your backs; if they find out you have anything to do with me, they'll be hunting you down, too."

"We'll be ready for them." She started up the ship. "You be careful, too." Venus smiled and gave her a thumbs-up as the cockpit closed and the ship flew off into the cosmos.

"Miss Talwyn," came Cronk's voice. "We're getting a transmission.""From who?"

"It's a Kerchu from Jasindu."

* * *

I hope to get this done as soon as possible, but don't rush me if I don't update within a few days.


	9. Chapter 9: The Creator

"Do you even know where to start looking for this thing, Venus?" Ratchet asked. Somehow, he couldn't help but feel that they had been traveling in circles. They had been flying for several hours now, and the entire time, Venus hadn't said a thing - she just stared ahead, a distant look in her eyes. Even now as she replied to him, she didn't look at him. "I'm not entirely sure," she said, "but I do know that the Lombaxes had to hide it somewhere no one else could find it.""Mukow?"

"I don't think they set foot on that planet until a good thousand years later."

"What about Rykan V?"

"They wouldn't hide it on the same planet as one of the amulets."

"Well, I got nothin'…" He tried to push Qwark over to give himself a little more room, just like he had been for the past several hours. "Maybe we could try the marshes on Coballia," he suggested. When he looked back at her, he noticed something was wrong; she looked dizzy, her eyes closed, and her breathing was shallow and labored. She could barely hear him speak as he repeatedly said her name.

After a moment, she found herself in strange surroundings. Everything around her was black, save for the glittering ground beneath her feet and the crystals above her head that glowed in a brilliant spectrum of colors, arranged in a swirling pattern. She looked around cautiously, hesitant to take another step in any direction. After a moment, as she continued to look around, she noticed something. Four pairs of brightly glowing eyes; one brilliant yellow in front of her; one ocean-blue to her right; one fiery red behind her; and one emerald-green to her left. They stared at her not with hatred and anger, as she would've expected, but with a sort of admiration. As they spoke, she could recognize the voices of the bird, the serpent, the dragon, and the wolf.

_You have come far, Venus. _came the bird's echoing, telepathic voice. _But you are far from finished now._

_There is yet one more amulet to retrieve. _the serpent said. She looked at the four guardians puzzled and said, "What do you mean?"

"The legends do tell most of the truth," said the dragon in its deep voice. "But they leave out the most important element of all."

"What is it?"

"Spirit," they replied simultaneously. Then, the wolf said, "You must first go where no mortal has gone before - the Leviathan's Den."

"Wait a minute! If no mortal's ever been there before, then how am I supposed to find it?" They all spoke in unison again: "You have proven your worth, Lombax. We will show you the way." Before she could inquire any further, the crystals above her glowed brilliantly, enveloping her in a blinding white light. She couldn't see or hear anything.

After a moment, she could hear a faint voice, muffled at first, but she knew who it was and what he was saying.

"Venus!" Ratchet cried, shaking her vigorously. She finally opened her eyes and looked in front if her. In her daze, the starship had begun flying toward a large asteroid. She shrieked and turned sharply to the right, narrowly avoiding it.

Ratchet sighed in relief; Qwark still gripped his seat tightly, a look of fear plastered on his face. "What was that?" Ratchet demanded. "You know, that wasn't exactly the best time to space out!" The only response she gave him was a shake of her head and a shrug. She could feel herself blushing - her face was getting hotter - and hoped he didn't notice. "What happened?"

"I-I don't…" her voice trailed off when she noticed something in front of the ship. There, floating in the middle of space among the countless stars, was a large ball of light, swirling with various shades of yellow, blue, red, and green. She looked curiously at it, its airy form flowing freely among the cosmos, beckoning her forward. Ratchet and Qwark looked from her to the light in front of the ship, wondering what it might be.

Then, she heard the voices of the guardians again echoing in her mind. "Do not fear," they said. "We can guide you." She nodded and flew faster towards the light. "Uh…Venus?" Ratchet asked. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me on this, Ratch," she replied.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Then, just as the nose of the ship touched the light, it burst into four waving streams, each one a single color for each guardian, each one seeming vividly alive. They stared in wonder at the sight before them. After waving around in front of them for a moment, the four streams swirled together to form a single multicolored beam, then shot off into the distance. Venus stared confused at the ever-extending ray of light, then realized what it was. She flew the ship as fast as she could, following the ray as it disappeared behind them.

"Now what are you doing?" Ratchet asked, a cynical expression on his face.

"I think I know where we have to go," she replied, staring intently at the light ahead of her. He knew she probably knew what to do better than he did, so he decided to trust her and didn't say anything else.

* * *

"You sure this is a good idea?" Zephyr asked Talwyn as they grew closer to planet Jasindu.

"I don't know," she replied, "but that Kerchu sounded pretty desperate. Besides, if we go there, we might find something out about the Shraalites." Neither of the warbots said anything, which concerned her - usually, the two wouldn't stop talking. As the planet came into view, she looked over at them; they both stared in awe at the planet's surface. "Something wrong?" Cronk pointed to Jasindu. She looked and saw what he meant.

Visible plain as day from the stars was Kerchu City. What caught her eye was that the area it was located in was engulfed in flames, and that area was rapidly expanding. "Think that's them?" Zephyr asked.

"Probably," she replied, determination marking her voice. "We'll land outside the city and investigate. I hope you two are ready for a fight."

"You bet we are!" Cronk and Zephyr laughed heartily as Talwyn landed the ship on the overgrown ground. The area they had landed, thick with undergrowth, had been minimally damaged - just a few floating embers here and there. This offered them some comfort, but not much. After grabbing their weapons, they leapt out of the ship and headed off for the city.

Not twenty minutes later had they arrived at the outskirts of the once thriving Kerchu metropolis. Buildings burst into flames and toppled around them; the damage worsened with each passing second. The three watched in horror as the Shraalite troops chased persistently after the citizens of the city, killing them off one by one. Suddenly, one of the Shraalites - one that was much larger and stronger-looking than most of the others - looked toward them. It growled and aimed its blaster at the three. "Oh my God," Talwyn said. She then shouted, "Run!" then turned and ran away. After dodging the Shraalite's shot, the two warbots ran after her.

"Why are we running again?" Zephyr asked.

"You heard Venus!" Talwyn replied. "She said to radio her as soon as something came up! Well, something just came up! And we can't handle this on our own!"

* * *

"Venus, I think we're lost," Ratchet said. "And I don't know how much longer I can take this. I can't feel my entire right side."

"Okay, so it's taking…a little longer than expected," she said.

"A little?"

"Okay, a lot longer. All the same, I know what I saw, Ratchet."

"You were passed out! You could've seen anything!"

"Hold that thought." She looked closely up ahead. The ray of light finally ended, but not where she had expected it to. It ended on the ledge of an immense asteroid, just in front of what appeared to be nothing more than a large crater in its side. Her ears drooped in confusion and disappointment. Needing to get out of the ship herself, however, she landed the ship and squirmed out, Ratchet following behind. As she walked toward the crater, the apparitions of the four guardians appeared in front of her. They stared at her softly.

"Are you kidding me?" she said, motioning to the crater. Then, she repeated, "Are you kidding me? Are you out of your minds? This…is a crater…in the side of an asteroid!"

"That is how it appears, Venus," the wolf said, stepping toward her. "But not all things are as they seem. Go now, young warrior, for the Leviathan awaits your arrival." She looked at it confused; the only response she got was a soft smile and a slow nod. She then turned to face Ratchet and motioned for him to follow her into the crater. "Hey, what about-" Qwark began.

"Don't even start!" she said, glaring at him. He jumped back toward the ship and stayed there as the two Lombaxes entered the opening in front of them. Venus tapped her sword against the wall; the dim purple light emitted from the blade, illuminating their way. She had expected a dead end - instead, she found them in a tunnel that seemed to go on forever. The walls glittered beautifully in the dim light. They looked around in amazement as they pressed on. "What comes next?" Ratchet asked, assuming the guardians had given her some kind of detail about their current situation.

"I'm not sure," she replied, "but if what the guardians say is true…then we may have to battle against the most powerful creature in the universe - its creator."

* * *

Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr had reached their ship safely. When they got there, however, they were greeted by a dozen elite Shraalite troops, glaring at them and aiming their blasters at them. Now they stood surrounded by the reptilian soldiers. They would have been able to get into the ship had it not been for their attackers. They growled menacingly as the three attacked them.

Suddenly, one of the troops leapt onto Talwyn from behind. It pinned her to the ground, its weight nearly crushing her. "Where's the Lombax?" it growled in her ear. She gasped and replied, "We don't know! And even if we did, we wouldn't tell you!" It growled loudly and raised its claws, preparing for the kill. Just before it brought its hand down upon her neck, Cronk shot his gun at its head. After the Shraalite fell limply on top of her, she pushed its carcass off her and got to her feet. "Thanks for that," she said, struggling to catch her breath. She turned back to the troops; more of them emerged from the thick undergrowth surrounding them. "There's no way we can take them all! Zephyr, send out a distress signal!" The warbot did as he was instructed, dodging another attack from the troops.

"What if Venus and Ratchet don't pick it up?" Cronk asked.

"At this point," Talwyn began, firing her blaster at the troops again. "I don't think it really matters who picks it up, as long as they hurry here!" Then, as she looked to the sky, she saw dark clouds forming, purple lightning crashing down to the ground. A storm was coming.

* * *

The two Lombaxes were beginning to think they had been tricked. After wandering through the tunnel for what seemed like forever, they still had found nothing, and their surroundings remained the same with the occasional crystal sticking up out of the ground. "Venus, I think we should go back," Ratchet said. "I don't think we're getting closer to anything."

"Feel free to turn back if you want to, Ratchet," Venus replied. "As for me, I've always been annoyingly persistent. I'm moving on." He sighed, but stayed with her - anything was better than being stuck alone with Qwark. For a few long moments, they walked along in silence, anticipation hanging thick in the air.

Suddenly, Venus's ears perked up, and she looked excitedly ahead. "What?" Ratchet said, looking at her. She covered his mouth with her hand, holding the other up to her ear. _Again with this? _he thought. He pushed her hand away and said, "Could you just tell me what it is?"

"Listen," she said softly. "You hear that?" At first, he thought she was trying to trick him. Then as he listened closer, he heard a low humming up ahead. "Stay here. I'll go ahead and tell you if it's safe." He was about to object, but she flew off into the depths of the tunnel before he could. He ran after her, not caring that she could hear his footsteps echoing through the darkness. Soon, a bright light shined through the blackness surrounding him.

"Ratchet!" she finally shouted.

"I'm coming!" he replied.

"Hurry up! You have to see this!" He began running faster, the light growing brighter as he went.

After a while, he finally caught up to her. She stood perfectly still at the mouth of the tunnel. He skidded to a halt next to her, turning to face her. She stared ahead in awe. "What is it?" he asked. She took his head in her hand and turned it to face forward.

They found themselves standing on a ledge extending only several feet from the opening of the tunnel. Surrounding them was what appeared to be a starry black abyss extending in every direction. About ten feet in front of them, a large stone island floated in the sparkling space around it. A bright sphere of light floated at the center of the island. "What the heck is this place?" Ratchet said looking around.

"I don't know," Venus began, "but that last amulet has to be here somewhere. Come on." She used her wings to propel herself to the other edge, Ratchet following behind with his hoverboots. Venus looked around in confusion at her surroundings. "Are you seeing this, Ratch?" she said.

"Yeah," he replied. "It's like the universe in an asteroid. But it's just an illusion, right?" She looked down at a rock that lay at her feet. She picked it up and said, "Only one way to find out." After that, she turned to the edge of the island and threw the rock as hard as she could. It never hit a wall - it just kept hurdling through the surrounding abyss until it disappeared from sight. "Uh…" was all Ratchet could utter.

"Yeah, whatever you do, don't fall," Venus warned, turning away from the cliff and walking toward the center of the island. Ratchet was more interested in a large, mirror-like pool of water at the right side of the island. He knelt down at the water's edge, staring intently at his reflection, then turned to Venus, who was carefully inspecting the orb of light at the center. She found that this had been the source of the low-pitched humming she had heard before. Along with the humming, multiple whispering voices spoke, though she couldn't understand what they were saying. "So," came Ratchet's voice, causing her ears to flick. "Where's the Leviathan you and the guardians keep talking about?"

"It has to be around here somewhere," she replied, looking over her shoulder at him before turning back to the orb.

"Or it could all be a lie. They could be trying to fool us." Just then, Venus softly touched a finger to the orb. After that, the light grew even more intense, ribbons of energy swirling around it. The humming emitting from it went from its low pitch to an extremely high pitch. Venus stepped back toward Ratchet. "What the heck did you do?" he said.

"All I did was touch it!" she said, looking from him back to the light. As she looked back at it, it expanded to be around the same size as a large warship. The energy ribbons swirling around it grew larger and larger, eventually forming a cyclone of light. The two Lombaxes stared in awe at the sight before them. Suddenly, a large pair of glowing neon-green eyes appeared from within the cyclone, staring at them. Then, bright blue flames engulfed the cyclone. Venus drew her sword as the blue fire expanded. Suddenly, the cyclone exploded into a brilliant array of hundreds of thousands of floating blue embers and jets of fire. In an attempt to defend herself and Ratchet, Venus held him close to her and held up her wings in front of them, protecting them from the furious flames.

After a moment, the flames died down. Venus lowered her wings and released Ratchet. When she looked at the spot where the flames had been swirling before, she found nothing there. She looked around, wondering why it had been there to begin with. "Venus?" she heard Ratchet say from behind her.

"What?" she replied, not looking back at him.

"I think there's someone here to see you…" She raised an eyebrow and finally turned around. As soon as she did, a huge clawed foot slammed down on the rocky ground in front of her. She looked up to see what the creature was and jumped back in shock.

She had found what she was looking for.

The creature that stood before her was the same size as the orb of light from which it had emerged - about equal to the size of a large warship - and its body was covered in silver scales that glittered like the stars around it. It had three pairs of long legs, with short onyx claws. Two whip-like tentacles extended from each of its sides that flowed freely in the still air. The creature had two pairs of enormous wings, the front pair a little bit larger than the rear pair, their torn membrane a light green that had been faded by the many centuries of life. Its dual-ended tail - which had a long sharp blade on each tip - whipped back and forth as it craned its long neck to look down at her. Its entire body and its head were very long and slender, its snout ending in a sort of beak similar to a bird's. It had three pairs of long golden horns extending from its head. Around its head, surrounding its eyes, and wrapping around the top of its neck was what appeared to be extremely rough and durable black skin or scales of some kind. From inside the circle of skin burst forth a crown of brilliant blue flame. It stared intently at her with calm, neon green eyes.

"Is this…" Ratchet began, walking toward her from underneath the creature.

"I don't know," she replied. Finally, the creature spoke. When it did, it didn't sound like a single voice, but a mixture of many voices, both male and female. "You, of all people," it began, "should know who I am." She looked at it in confusion and distrust. "I'll give you a hint: you know the legends of me better than anyone alive."

_The Dragon Leviathan? _she thought.

_That's right, Venus, _she heard a collection of voices say in her mind. "You can hear my thoughts?" Venus said to it. It nodded slowly. "But how do you know who I am?"

"Obviously the legends didn't say everything about me," it said, kneeling down in front of the two Lombaxes. "I wield the powers of the universe - fire, water, earth, air…among others such as telepathy and light. I've been watching the two of you since you met." It turned its attention directly to Ratchet. "You, I've been watching over for many years - since you and Clank first met. You have one of the strongest hearts I've known. You're a very strong-willed and courageous man, Ratchet." It then looked to Venus. "And you, Venus, have what I can only describe as a beautiful and pure soul. I understand you've never had many friends. But ever since you met Ratchet, you've been willing to put your own life on the line if it meant saving his. You'd do anything for the few friends you have." The Leviathan lowered its head so it was level with Venus and Ratchet. "You don't have to worry about fighting me, my dear Lombaxes. With a heart of gold and a shimmering silver soul, I know I can trust the two of you with the future of this universe."

"But…there's something I want to know," Venus began. "The legends do tell about the only way to stop this shadow…but they never said anything about how it _started_."

"I thought you might ask that. You see, there was not only one creator of the universe. It took two. The other was a creature opposite me: a creature of destruction and shadows. A creature known as the Shadow Hydra."

"But why did you need it?"

"Because, Venus, without darkness, there can be no light. I needed its powers to create all that you know today as the universe. The Hydra refused to help me - it wanted to create its own plain of existence, one of pure darkness and destruction. In order to stop it, I needed its help. Eventually, I managed to extract some of its powers and use them to create this universe. After that, I exiled the creature to the farthest reaches of the universe, far away form all life. I managed to keep it trapped there until recently."

"If you kept it trapped for so long," Ratchet began, "then how did it break out?"

"The Shadow Hydra draws its power from the darkness that exists within the hearts of every living thing in the universe. It spent all these years building up enough power to retaliate against me. Now it's free, and I fear the worst, for I cannot defeat it alone. It is the one creature in existence that matches my power and strength. That is why I created the elemental guardians. If I were to join forces with the four of them, I could defeat the Hydra. But simply defeating it is not enough - for on thing, it cannot die, therefore it would merely continue to build up its powers of darkness by feeding on the malice of the inhabitants of the universe. Also, it is needed to keep the universe in balance, so I cannot simply banish it to another dimension like I would with most other threats to life. That is why, using telepathy, I sent a message to the Lombaxes of Fastoon many thousands of years ago to create the 'Heart', as you call it. Only it, along with two beings such as yourselves, can halt the destruction of the universe."

Finally, it stood up again and slowly walked toward the pool at the right side of the island. "Come, my friends," it said. "There's something you need to know that I'm afraid you wouldn't remember." The two Lombaxes looked at each other in confusion, then followed the Leviathan, kneeling next to it on the cold rocky ground. It stared down at them and said, "I trust the two of you have felt a sort of 'déjà vu' about each other? That perhaps you'd met somewhere before, hmm?" Venus looked at Ratchet, who nodded slightly. "There's a reason for that. Look." They all turned to look at the pool of water. Its surface rippled softly as the Leviathan touched a tentacle's tip to its surface. When it finally settled, Ratchet and Venus looked puzzled at the image it reflected.

Sparkling on the surface of the water was an image of two Lombax cubs fast asleep next to each other. One was white with black stripes; the other, a golden yellow with light brown stripes. They studied the image for a moment, then Ratchet looked back up at the Leviathan. After staring at it for a few more seconds, realization struck Venus and her ears perked up. "I'm not sure I understand," Ratchet said.

"That's us…" Venus muttered, her eyes still glued to the water. Then she turned to the Leviathan and said, "That's us, isn't it?" It nodded again. "What?" Ratchet said in shock.

"Ratchet, your father and Venus's mother were good friends. Her father died when she was just a few months old, so her mother was left to raise her alone. I must say, Venus, you look just like your mother." It gently touched its tentacle to the surface of the water again. Another image flashed onto it - this time, one of a female Lombax, smiling warmly. "Is that her?" Venus asked.

"Yes," the Leviathan replied. It was right; from her pure white fur and black stripes to her blue eyes sparkling with life, the Lombax looked just like Venus. She stared at the image in disbelief. "She would be so proud of you, Miss Carapell." After that she looked up at the Leviathan again. "Though I fear that if you tarry any longer, you'll be too late. Before you leave, I must warn you that Zarthon is likely to be working with the Shadow Hydra." It touched the water again. The image of Venus's mother soon faded, giving way to a far more terrifying image.

The creature reflected in the pool was tall and slender, like the Leviathan, though there were multiple distinct differences. It lacked the fiery crown and instead had a pair of ears shaped like large bat's wings. It had red, soulless eyes filled with malice. Like the Leviathan, it had three pairs of legs, which unlike its counterpart were tipped at the toes with long, sleek black claws. Two tentacles sprouted from each side of its neck and flowed around its gray-scaled body. A long black stripe swirled around each eye, extended down to the back of its head, and there the two stripes merged to form one that ran down the length of its back to the tip of its tail, with extensions reaching down the side of each of its six legs. Its roaring, gaping mouth was filled with three rows of razor-sharp teeth, its snout also ending in a sort of beak. Its body was surrounded by some sort of black energy radiating around it, keeping it levitated. Orbs of the energy were released from the larger mass surrounding it. "Beware of this creature," came the Leviathan's voice. "It will know that you seek to bring a stop to its plan. For all we know, it's hunting you down as we speak, and its powers of darkness are immeasurable."

"Then how do we defeat it?" Venus asked.

"You will find out in good time, my dear Lombaxes." Finally, the Leviathan got to its feet again and looked down at the two Lombaxes. "I have one more request for the two of you, and that is to join you on your quest. I would be most honored if you would allow me to lend you my powers." Before they could respond, its body began glowing with a dim white light. "I leave you two with what is left," it said, its voice echoing around them. "I leave you with the future." A loud humming noise emitted from it as the light grew brighter and brighter, blinding the two Lombaxes. "Take charge of your destiny!" After that, its body burst into a flurry of light-emitting particles floating all around them. Where the Leviathan had once stood, a single orb of light floated. After a second, it flew over to Venus, floating in front of her for a moment, then disappearing into the bead around her neck. A few seconds after that, a small cyclone of dust and dirt appeared near the pool, a dim light shining within it. After it died down, Venus walked over to it. Lying there in a pile of dust was a glimmering diamond amulet on a gold chain.

"Did I miss something?" Ratchet said, looking over at Venus as she picked up the amulet.

"If you did, then I probably did too," she said, turning to face him. "But we don't have time to wonder about that right now! We got what we came here for. Now we need to get the Heart. Come on!" She spread her wings and flew off toward the mouth of the cave, Ratchet rocketing behind her.

When they finally reached Atrion again, they found Qwark leaning against her side, his arms crossed as he stared blankly at the stars. "Sorry to interrupt," Venus said as she landed next to him, causing him to jump. "but we need to go. Now." After that, she jumped into the driver seat of the ship, Ratchet taking his place next to her and Qwark squeezing himself in next to him. Her two passengers squirming around next to her, she closed her eyes and grasped the bead in her hand, hoping for a clue as to what to do next.

Before long, another vision came to her. After a bright flash of light, she could see a dry, barren landscape in front of her. In the side of a towering cliff was a huge crevasse with several openings in its walls, one of which was sealed off by a large metal door with five indentations on it. "To find the cure for the universe's illness," came the voices of the four guardians and the Leviathan, "you must go where the Lombaxes began." After that, the bright light flashed again, and the vision faded.

When she opened her eyes again and looked to her right, she saw Ratchet and Qwark staring curiously at her. "So?" Ratchet said. "What's next?" She looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded and piloted the ship off the asteroid. "I'll need you to give me some directions, Ratch," she said.

"All right. Where to?"

"Fastoon."


	10. Chapter 10: Lord of the Shadows

After several hours of piloting the black Lombaxian starship, the three finally entered Fastoon's atmosphere. Venus knew right away where to go - there was an extremely high energy signature several miles away from where they had entered, and she at least knew to look for the cliff with the large crevasse. After only a few minutes, the cliff came into view. Dust and dirt swirled around in the crevasse as a breeze blew over the dry landscape. Once she landed the ship on the flat ground about a hundred feet away from the cliff, she and Ratchet squirmed out of the ship after grabbing the five amulets from the glove compartment and stared up at the crevasse.

"You guys are going in there?" Qwark said as he followed their gaze. Venus nodded and said as she turned to face him, "You wait here, Qwark. Orvus knows what's going to happen up there, and I don't think you'll want to be around if something goes wrong." He nodded in agreement and sunk back into his seat in the ship. After that, she turned back to Ratchet and hovered in the air next to him, grasping the amulets in her hand. He nodded and allowed her to pick him up, then held tightly to her shoulders as she flew up to the edge of the crevasse.

Looking around at their surroundings, they saw traces of an ancient civilization. Shards of pottery lay strewn in the dirt, and there were several moderately sized clay huts scattered throughout the ruins, most of them missing large chunks of their walls and roofs. On the left side of the ruins were what appeared to be prehistoric graves - neatly arranged stone piles atop slightly raised mounds of earth.

Then, at the far right of the ruins, Venus saw the metal door that she recognized from her vision. "Ratchet," she said. He finally tore his eyes from the ancient ruins and turned to face her as she pointed to the door. "Over there. I think that's where the Heart is." He nodded and followed her as she rushed toward the door.

She carefully examined its surface. Four circular indentations were arranged in a diamond shape, with a fifth in the middle of the four. There was something written in Lombax below the pattern. "Care to translate?" Ratchet said as he looked over the door.

She nodded and said, "If you seek the power of the universe, close your eyes and submit your proof." She continued to stare at the inscription for a moment, then took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She stayed like this for several long moments before Ratchet tapped her shoulder. She looked at him just as he pointed down to the five amulets in her right hand. She looked puzzled at him for a second, then looked down at her hand and gasped.

The amulets glowed brightly, each in the color of its element. They shook violently in her hand before gravitating upward. When she finally released them, they flew up and floated in front of the door in the same diamond pattern that was indented into the metal surface. Then, after a moment, they transformed into five orbs of light, which then flew into the indentations. They glowed for a few seconds, and when the light finally dimmed, they revealed five smooth round gems in the indentations - topaz on top, sapphire on the right, ruby on the bottom, emerald on the left, and diamond in the center. Then, a loud rumble could be heard. The door stuck, but then rose up, opening the doorway. The two Lombaxes looked confused at each other for a second, then walked through the doorway and into the hallway, which was rather short - only about ten feet long.

At either side of the hall every two feet or so was a stone statue of the Dragon Leviathan. The only difference between the statues and the Leviathan itself was that in the statues, it was depicted as being serpentine. They were carved to make the Leviathan coiled up like a snake, staring intently at the statue opposite it. At the end of the hallway, they could see another doorway leading into a room. In the center of this room was a white pedestal with a beam of light pouring down upon it from above and an inscription in its side. Venus turned to Ratchet and motioned for him to follow her. He nodded and complied.

She examined the pedestal carefully as he looked around the room. In the light, she could see the form of something floating just above the pedestal. She then turned her attention to the inscription, running a finger over it as she did. Noticing Ratchet's puzzled expression, she said, "When two hearts become one, the shadow's curse will be undone."

"Huh?" he said, tilting his head.

"That's what it says." She read the inscription to herself several more times to make sure she was reading it correctly, but every time she did, it seemed to be the same rhyme. Then, she sighed and shook her head. "We don't have time to contemplate that. We need to get moving." She then reached into the light and grasped the object that floated over the pedestal. Once she removed it, the light faded, leaving the room in almost pitch darkness. She tapped her sword on the ground a couple of times, causing it to light up again, then examined the item in her hand. What she was holding was a large, heart-shaped ruby that sparkled in the dim purple light, and the same inscription that was on the side of the pedestal was on the side of the ruby. "This is it," Venus gasped. Ratchet stared in awe at the gem. "This is the Heart of the Dragon Leviathan… That means that everything is true." Finally, he turned his attention to her, and she looked back up at him. "The legends are true, Ratchet…which means the shadow's coming." Then, she looked back at the doorway. "We need to hurry. Let's get back to the ship." He nodded and followed her back out to the ruins.

When they got outside again, they heard Qwark calling for them. Venus dashed over to the edge of the cliff and looked toward Atrion, where Qwark stood flailing his arms. "What is it, Qwark?" she called as Ratchet skidded to a halt next to her.

"There's something coming in over the radio!" Qwark replied.

"It's a distress signal," added Atrion. The two Lombaxes looked at each other for a moment before Venus flew downward, Ratchet following behind, using his hoverboots to gently lower him to the ground. They leapt into the ship and listened carefully to the signal. "That's Zephyr's signature!" Ratchet gasped.

"Oh, no…" Venus said, her ears drooping down against the back of her head. "That means they're in trouble. Atrion, can you track the signal?"

"Affirmative," came the ship's voice. "Location appears to be outside Kerchu City, Planet Jasindu."

"Then Jasindu it is. Qwark, get in. We need to hurry!" Once he had struggled in next to Ratchet, she flew the ship into the cosmos, listening carefully as the other Lombax gave her directions to the Kerchu planet.

* * *

Talwyn and her two warbot companions had been struggling to fight off the Shraalite attackers for a long while now, but every time they killed one, another one dashed out of the thick undergrowth. By now, they were beginning to run out of ammo for their blasters, and they had no way to obtain more. Things were looking grim for the trio.

"Looks like this is it, guys," Talwyn said solemnly as the Shraalites moved closer toward them. "It's been nice knowing you…" The attackers growled and glared as they prepared for the kill.

Just then, a figure leapt in front of Talwyn and knocked four of the creatures away with a glowing purple sword. When one of them jumped back toward them, it was greeted by the end of the sword as it shot through its chest and out of its back. Once it fell limply to the overgrown ground, the figure stood up straight and glared at the others, white ears flattened and a heart-shaped ruby in its left hand. "How many times do I have to tell you beasts," she began, "leave my friends alone."

"Venus!" Talwyn exclaimed. As she continued to fight off the beasts, her black starship settled to the ground next to Talwyn's. After that, the cockpit opened, revealing Ratchet and a very frightened Qwark. "Ratchet!" Venus called as she held one of the Shraalites at bay with the sword. "Grab the CryoMine Launcher out of the back! I'm sure you'll need it more than me!" He did as instructed and ran toward her, then noticed that Qwark still sat shaking in his seat. "Coming, Qwark?" he called over his shoulder.

"I-I think I'll just stay here and guard the ship," he replied, his voice shaking. Venus sighed and shook her head as the other Lombax ran to her side. "Some hero he turned out to be, eh?" she said as he fired the launcher, freezing five of the Shraalites. After that, she struck the five, causing them to shatter into countless glittering pieces of frozen bone and flesh. Then, she noticed the others simply staring in fear at them. She grinned deviously and leapt at them, wings spread, in an attempt to scare them off. They roared shrilly and retreated into the thick jungle.

She laughed victoriously, holding the sword over her shoulders, then turned back to her friends. "Do what you love, love what you do, am I right?" she chuckled. With a smile, Ratchet nodded and lowered the launcher.

Just then, they heard the ear-piercing roar of a Shraalite, accompanied by the terrified shrieks of multiple Kerchu somewhere in the city. "Tal, what's the situation?" Venus asked.

"Shraalites have stormed the city," she replied. "They're killing anyone in their way. And there's something else you might be interested in." The white Lombax looked at her confused as she continued. "There's a plateau above the city. Some kind of storm is forming over it."

"What does it look like?"

"Black and dark purple…swirling around what almost looks like a small black hole. There's red lightning shooting out of the eye of the storm."

Venus looked down at the ground in disbelief for a moment, then said, "If that's the case, we may already be too late. We need to get into the city. Ratchet, you lead the way." Then, she looked at Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr. "You three stay here. I don't want you getting into anymore trouble."

"No, Venus," Talwyn objected. "We just need to get some more ammo out of the ship. It won't take more than a minute." The Lombax girl sighed and nodded, and when the three were done reloading their blasters, they quickly made their way to the city.

By now, everything was almost completely destroyed. Much of the buildings lay in ruins, and the debris covered up most of the Kerchu carcasses that lay scattered on the ground. Meanwhile, the Shraalite troops ran rampant in the fissured streets. On the west edge of the city was the plateau that Talwyn had mentioned earlier, and the storm above it was growing larger and more powerful by the second. They could see a black figure standing on the edge of the plateau, staring down at the metropolis. It was holding something small and metallic in its hand. "Look," Venus said, pointing toward the figure. "Up there." He looked to where she was pointing and saw the figure.

Then, she looked toward their other three friends. "We'll go up and investigate," she said. "Right now, I just want you three to get out of here alive. Got it?" They wanted to object, but she grabbed Ratchet and flew off toward the plateau before they got the chance.

* * *

The Shraalite captain stood perfectly still at the edge of the cliff, watching carefully as the destruction of Kerchu City progressed. He then noticed the two Lombaxes flying toward him. He smiled widely, revealing his many razor-sharp teeth. "Foolish Lombaxes," he chuckled. He then lifted the small robot to his face. "Come to rescue your little friend, no doubt."

"You have no idea who you are dealing with!" Clank snapped. "They will stop you, no matter what!"

"You think so, huh, rust bucket?" The Shraalite then turned around and looked up at the swirling storm above him. The crimson lightning grew more and more intense, the thunder becoming louder.

Just then, the two Lombaxes landed behind him. Clank looked back at them as the Shraalite grasped his neck tighter, still staring up at the storm. "Clank?" Ratchet called. "You're alive!"

He stepped toward him, but froze when Clank demanded, "No, Ratchet! Do not come any closer! He will kill you!"

"Oh, believe me," the captain began. "I'll kill them no matter what." Finally, he turned to face the two Lombaxes, focusing his attention on the ruby in Venus's hand. "I see you've found it, have you, Lombaxes?" he sneered. Then, he chuckled and continued. "Now, be a good girl, Venus, and hand it over."

"Never!" she spat back.

"Then you condemn him to die!" The Shraalite held Clank high above his head. The tiny robot stared up at the black hole in terror, then looked back at his two friends. Venus glowered at the black creature, while Ratchet stared in their direction in desperation.

"Don't listen to him, Ratchet!" Venus said, holding her sword in front of her. "If he was going to kill him, he would've done it already! He's not going to do it!"After that, the Shraalite laughed maniacally, then roared, "Are you that naïve, Tigress? You really don't get it! I needed him to be alive in order to get you here!"

Venus looked shocked for a second, then gasped, "You could've stopped us at any time. But you didn't…because you wanted us to get the Heart. You lured us to you using an invasion as bait! Clank was just the icing on the cake!"

"Perhaps you're smarter than I've given you credit for, furball. But none of that matters now. What does matter is that you either give me the Heart, or sentence the robot to death. What'll it be?" She looked over at Ratchet, who still stared at his robotic companion and his captor. "Ratchet?" she said. When he didn't respond, she spoke again. "Ratchet, look at me. We can do this!"

"How?" he asked solemnly.

"Together. Just the way we've been doing." He sighed and nodded. Then suddenly, he aimed the CryoMine Launcher at the Shraalite and fired, sending a large CryoMine flying at him. Just before it reached him, however, he swiped his hand in the air in front of him, knocking it away with a wave of black energy. The two stared in astonishment as the Shraalite chuckled and said, "You really think you can stop me with a CryoMine? Do you have any idea who I am? I am Zarthon! Captain of the Shraalites, and master of darkness!" Then, unexpectedly, he hurled Clank upward. The pull of the black hole drew him upward as the lightning grew stronger than ever before. "Clank!" Ratchet cried. After that, Venus precipitously flew upward in an attempt to rescue the helpless robot.

As she neared him, she reached a hand out to grab him by the foot. Just before she could, however, an immense bolt of lightning struck her wing. She found herself suspended in midair for a flew long, excruciating seconds as the electricity flowed through her body before it finally ceased and she fell flaccidly to the ground. Ratchet knelt down beside her as she propped herself up on her elbows, then looked up at the black hole just as the robot disappeared into its bowels. "Clank!" Ratchet shouted over the thunder. "No!"

Zarthon once again burst into his maniacal laughter. Venus looked away from the black hole and glared at the Shraalite. "You monster!" she growled as she quickly got to her feet and sprung toward him. He did to her exactly what he had done to the CryoMine and knocked her away with a wave of energy from his hand. She lay in pain on her side after she skidded on the ground about ten feet, gripping her left arm in agony. "You can't defeat me, Tigress, no matter how hard you try!" the Shraalite captain growled. "Perhaps I can show you why." He then lifted both arms over his head and shouted, "Lord of the Shadows! Come to me!"

Suddenly, amongst the thunder, a shrill roar was heard. From out of the black hole, a small mass of dark matter appeared, floating high above the plateau. Then, more dark matter appeared, joining with the smaller mass. This process continued for several long minutes until the mass grew to be equal in size to the Dragon Leviathan. From within the cloud of dark matter, a pair of soulless red eyes appeared, glaring down at the two Lombaxes. After that, a reptilian body appeared within the cloud - one that they recognized from their visit to the Leviathan's Den.

"Behold! The Shadow Hydra!" The Hydra looked exactly like the image the Leviathan had shown them. It shrieked loudly as it gently lowered itself closer to the ground, though its feet never touched down. Finally, Venus got to her feet and staggered back away from the menacing creature. "Now come the dawning of a new era!"

"Zarthon, stop this!" Venus shouted. "You have no idea what you're doing!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing! When I have the Heart, I will be unstoppable! The cleansing of this broken universe is nigh!"

"That's what this is all about?"

"It must be done, Tigress. All my life, I've watched the ugliness of this universe emerge in so many forms. Murder, war, every kind of struggle. And it makes me sick! This must be done, Venus, to rid the universe of its impurities!"

"You're insane!" Venus growled. "You don't understand! If you follow through with this, it won't just be those you deem to be 'impure' who will die. This shadow and the monster that you've release will wreak havoc on the entire universe! They'll destroy everything, including your precious followers!"

"Lies! All Lombax lies!" He looked back up at the Hydra and yelled, "Lord of the Shadows! Unleash your fury!" The creature threw its head upward, shrieking at an ear-piercing volume for a long moment. The dark matter surrounding its body expanded quickly, eventually transforming into thick tendrils of darkness that moved through the air like the tentacles of an octopus. The black hole above them grew wider until it was nearly large enough to envelope the Hydra itself, and from the hole came orbs of dark energy that exploded into shockwaves of the same energy the second they touched the ground. Then, the crimson lightning became even more aggressive - huge bolts shot down from the swirling clouds above, their energy so great that the very earth fissured with each strike.

Suddenly, the plateau began to shake violently. The Hydra lowered its head in front of Zarthon, allowing him to climb onto it. As the ground began to crumble, the Hydra slowly levitated upward. "We have to get out of here!" Venus cried as the two struggled to keep their balance. She tried to move her wings, but found them stuck in full expansion. The harder she tried to move them, the more it hurt her back. "What's wrong?" Ratchet said, noticing her painful expression.

"The lightning must've fried the neural sensors!" she grunted in response. "I can't move them! I can't fly if they won't move!"

"You might as well face it, Tigress," Zarthon said. "You're doomed to die."

Suddenly, she grabbed Ratchet and ran to the edge of the cliff. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"I said I can't fly," she said. "I didn't say I can't glide!" After that, she bounded off the edge, using her stiff wings to support the two in the air as she glided down toward the ruined metropolis. Zarthon and the Hydra growled discontentedly as they watched the two Lombaxes make their escape. Then, without warning, the monstrous creature roared, its voice echoing across the overgrown landscape. The Shraalites that ran amuck through the city froze suddenly and looked up at their leader astride the mighty Hydra. "After the Lombaxes!" Zarthon shouted.

The white Lombax had managed to make it to the edge of the city before having to land. Atrion had been waiting just a few feet from where they landed. "Where's Qwark?" Venus asked.

"More Shraalite troops came while you were gone. I managed to fight them off, but only after Qwark ran away. That's when I came here to wait for you two."

"Guess it's a good thing you had those weapons installed, eh, Ratch?" When she looked back at him, she saw he was beginning to walk away. "Hey!" she said. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going back for him," he replied.

"Clank?"

"Yes! Clank!" He whirled around to face her. "I thought he was dead before, and he wasn't. I have to go back for him now!"

"Ratchet, there's a difference between this time and last time." She slowly walked toward him. "This time, he was thrown into a black hole. There's no way he could've survived."

"And how do you know that for sure?"

"Do you know why they're called black holes? Because the gravitational pull of a black hole is so great that not even light can escape it. If light can't make it out, what makes you think a robot can? If you go back for him, you _are _committing suicide!"

"You don't understand, Venus! Without him, I don't have anyone! You don't know what it's like to be alone in the universe!"

After that, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed him up against a nearby tree. "You think I don't know what that's like?" she growled. "Weren't you listening to me on Sargasso? I've been alone all my life! Nobody ever took the time to know me because I was different! I had to take care of myself , Ratchet! So don't you dare tell me I don't know what it's like to be alone in the universe!" Neither one of them said or did anything for a moment. Then, to his surprise, she embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know you feel alone now," she said as he looked down at her in shock. "And I can't say I know what it's like to lose your best friend…but I know it must hurt. I need you to know that even though you're hurting now, you're not alone. I'll stand by your side no matter what…because without you, I'm alone." After that, he sighed and returned the embrace, a single tear rolling down his cheek as his head rested gently on hers.

"Oh, how touching," came a growling voice from behind. Venus looked over her shoulder as Ratchet lifted his head. Standing there was a group of about a dozen Shraalites led by a much larger commander. Every one of them held a red blaster, except for the commander, who grasped a Lightning Ravager in his right hand. "A moment while I vomit," the commander grunted.

"You," Venus growled as she turned around.

"What do you say we cut the chitchat, Lombax?" The commander stalked slightly closer to them as she gripped her sword with her right hand. "I'll make this simple, Venus - hand over the Heart, or we kill you both."

"I give you the Heart," she began, "and your leader kills everyone and everything in the universe. You're insane if you think I'll do that!"

"Humph. Stubborn to the very last." At that moment, one of the Shraalites fired his blaster at them. They jumped out of the way, causing the shot to hit the tree behind them and set it on fire. Just as they got to their feet, another dashed over to them and swiped a hand at Ratchet, knocking him into Atrion's side. The starship then fired at the Shraalite, but then froze when the commander attacked her with the Lightning Ravager, rendering her useless. "Ratchet!" she cried. Just then, the commander tackled her to the ground and secured a black collar around her neck. When he saw the other Lombax get up, he took his Lightning Ravager and this time attacked him. He felt his entire body seize as shocks coursed through his body. Finally, the commander stepped off the white Lombax, and as soon as he did, the collar around her neck emitted a painful shock until she was unconscious. The last thing Ratchet saw before his vision faded to darkness was the commander taking the Heart from Venus's hand, then slinging her over his shoulder and stalking off into the thick jungle with the other Shraalites in tow.


	11. Chapter 11: The Resistance

Ratchet?" Talwyn said as she shook the Lombax. "Ratchet, can you hear me?" Finally, he groaned and slowly opened his eyes. His friend knelt down next to him, along with Cronk and Zephyr. He felt extremely groggy as he tried to sit up. "Are you okay?" she asked, helping him up.

"I think so…" he moaned, placing a hand on his head. Then suddenly, his ears perked up. "Where's Venus?"

"She was captured…by the Shraalites. After you were knocked out, they took the Heart and Venus. We tried to follow them, but we lost them in the jungle. They're probably taking her to some kind of base…" Grunting as he did, he stood and walked toward Atrion. "You okay?" he asked as he set a hand on her hood.

"Yes," she replied.

"Think you can fly?"

"Yes."

"In that case…let's fly." After that, her cockpit opened, allowing him to jump inside. Talwyn and the two warbots rushed to the side of the ship and looked up at him. "Where are you going?" Talwyn asked.

"I have to go after her," he replied, preparing to take off. "Clank may be gone, but there's still a chance that Venus is alive, and if she is, I'm going to save her. You guys have to get out of here before things get any worse. I'll radio you as soon as I have Venus, okay?" They nodded as the cockpit closed and the ship lifted into the air.

"Where do you propose we start looking?" Atrion asked as they rocketed through the stars.

"Venus mentioned something about a news report that said there was a warship somewhere in the Corvus Sector," he replied. "We'll start there, and if she's not there, we'll figure out where else she might be."

* * *

"Hey, ugly," came a raspy voice. "Wake up!" Venus then awoke to a small Shraalite tossing a bucket of cold water at her face. She shook her head, then looked around. The smaller Shraalite was accompanied by one of the normal-sized troops, as well as the commander. She was in what appeared to be a cell, with a hard cot on the opposite side of the room. But what worried her the most was that she had been fastened to the wall by metal braces around her wrists and ankles. Though useless, her wings, which were still fully extended, had been removed from her back and placed next to the cot. She struggled to free herself from the braces, but when she did, they emitted an extremely painful current of electricity.

"Give it up, Lombax," growled the commander. "The more you struggle, the more painful it'll be for you.

"You have the Heart," she snarled through clenched teeth. "What do you need me for?"

"Actually, we don't. but we've been ordered by Captain Zarthon to keep you alive until he can dispose of you himself. Which, by the way, shouldn't be long." With that, the three Shraalites turned to leave the room.

"You tell your so-called 'captain' that he's making the worst mistake anyone could possibly make!" she said before they put the laser field back up. The commander looked back at her, sneered, and then walked away. She glared in their direction for a moment, then sighed and hung her head. _Good going, Ve…_she thought. _You've really done it this time… You've really screwed yourself… _She carefully studied her surroundings again, looking for any way out, but finding none. Her head dropped again, and she sighed in defeat before closing her eyes, exhausted due to the shock she had just received.

Several hours later, she was jolted awake by a loud explosion somewhere outside her cell. She quickly lifted her head and looked around to find the source of the noise, but all that she could see were the many Shraalite troops dashing past the cell. Her breathing became shallow and her heart began to race.

Then suddenly, she heard someone land in front of the laser field, followed by the sound of the generator powering it being smashed to pieces. Once the field lowered, a familiar face came striding into the cell.

"Ratchet?" she said as he walked closer to her.

"Of course," he replied. "Sorry it took so long to find you, Ve. I would've been here sooner, but the ship camouflaged with all the stars."

"You shouldn't have come at all!" He looked up at her confused for a second, then said with a shrug, "Well, that wasn't the thanks I was expecting."

"I mean it, Ratchet! I could've made it out of here myself!"

"Yeah, I'm real convinced." He motioned toward the braces around her limbs. She sighed and shook her head as he broke each one of the restraints using his wrench. Once she was free, he dashed to the doorway to the cell. Before she left, however, Venus grabbed her mechanical wings from where they rested and pressed a small black button that was just between the wings, causing them to disappear into their base, which essentially looked like a thick back brace. She then attached it onto her back before following Ratchet out of the room.

"I can't believe you!" she growled as they made their way through the long, winding hallways. "First you're talking about jumping into a black hole. Now, you're risking your tail to save mine! Again!"

"That shouldn't come as such a surprise anymore," he replied. Suddenly, she came to a stop just as they entered the hangar of the warship and grabbed his arm, jerking him back. "What?"

"I think we've run into a bit of trouble." She pointed in front of them, where dozens of Shraalite troops and robotic guard dogs waited for them. Then, the dogs began growling and barking, drawing the attention of the troops, who instantly began firing blasters and rocket launchers at the two. They just barely managed to dodge most of the fire, but one of the blaster shots hit Venus's left shoulder and burned right through her armor, leaving a large patch of singed fur and skin. She grunted in pain as she struggled to move the injured limb.

What she didn't notice was one of the guard dogs leaping toward her, metal fangs bared. She shrieked as soon as she saw it and cringed, but before the hound reached its target, Ratchet stepped in front of her and swung his wrench at it, watching as countless nuts, bolts, and fragments of metal fell to the floor. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. She nodded and reached for her sword. "Right now," she began, "our main concern is getting out of here alive."

As the troops closed in, she bounded high into the air and slammed her sword hard on the metal floor, releasing a wave of energy that crushed most of the smaller Shraalites, but still left the many larger ones alive.

Then, from out of nowhere, an immense Shraalite Destroyer appeared next to Ratchet. He had no time to react before the monster slashed him across his chest with a razor-sharp claw, tearing through his armor as if it were wet tissue paper. The Lombax gasped in pain as blood flowed quickly from the wound, covering much of his armor. "Ratchet!" Venus cried as he fell to the floor, struggling for breath, pain radiating throughout his body. She knelt down next to him, placing her hands on the wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

The Shraalites that had survived her last attack roared with laughter as she looked down at the fallen Lombax, but when she looked up at them again, they were instantly hushed. Her eyes glowed with an intense ruby color, filled with rage and hatred toward the monsters. A dim crimson light also emitted from the bead around her neck. The Destroyer stepped back cautiously as she got to her feet, ears flattened as she glowered at him and his comrades.

After a moment, she stepped back from her partner, then burst into a cyclone of forceful jets of flame. The cyclone rapidly expanded for a moment before a pair of bright red eyes appeared from within the fires. After that, the flames burst toward every one of the attackers, nearly melting their armor. They spent a moment or two dodging the fires, and every single one of them shrieked in fear at the red serpentine dragon that now stood where Venus once had. It hissed at the beasts as they scattered throughout the hangar.

The dragon looked down at the Lombax for a second before pressing its snout under his limp body and tossing him onto its back. Then, it turned its attention once again to its foes. While most of them scurried in terror around, the Destroyer stood his ground, challenging the dragon as he aimed a large black rocket launcher at it. Before he could fire, it blasted a huge jet of fire into the barrel of the launcher, causing the ammo inside to detonate along with its wielder. After that, it looked back at the other Shraalites still running around in fear. It growled for a moment, its body glowing with a strange red light, then threw its head upward and roared mightily. As it did, a maelstrom of fire expanded from its scaly form, enveloping everything in the room and instantly incinerating it.

It took a moment for it to regain its energy, as its final attack took immense amounts of energy. Then, it heard more troops making their way to the hangar and flew toward the entrance, where Atrion waited. Once the dragon had gently set Ratchet down in the passenger seat of the starship, it burst into a flurry of glittering red scales, revealing a groggy Venus in its place. Once she composed herself, she jumped into the driver seat, closed the cockpit, and flew off as quickly as she could.

As she piloted the ship, she repeatedly switched her attention from the space in front of her to the passed-out Lombax next to her. Finally, after several long moments, she sighed and said, "Just hang on, Ratch. Hang on…"

* * *

When Ratchet awoke the next morning, he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. It was what seemed to be a small wooden hut with nothing in it except for a single stiff bed upon which he lay and a table on the other side with a candle as the only source of light. He found that the top half of his armor had been removed and the wound on his chest had been neatly dressed. As he studied his surroundings closer, he saw Venus sitting against the wall right next to the bed, sleeping in a rather uncomfortable position. "Venus?" he said, his voice hoarse and his throat dry.

Finally, her ears flicked, and her blue eyes burst opened. She looked toward him and smiled widely, gasping out of both shock and relief. "Ratchet!" she said, kneeling next to the bed and embracing him tightly. "You're alive! Oh, thank Orvus you're alive!" He chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder, then said, "You didn't think you were getting rid of me that easily, did you?" She looked at him puzzled, but laughed when she saw a wide grin make its way to his face.

"You have no idea how worried I was about you, Ratchet. I didn't even fall asleep until a couple hours ago… I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Tell me you've at least been doing something constructive while I was out?"

"I managed to fix my wings. I didn't think you'd mind if I borrowed your wrench." She gently touched the bandages on his chest. "Does it hurt?"

"Stings a little, but I'm sure that's normal, right?" She sighed and nodded. "Where are we anyway?" She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the door to the hut opened, and a large Agorian wearing a feathery war helmet stepped inside. Ratchet jumped and stiffened, but then fell limp as his wound sent surges of pain through his body. "Don't overstrain yourself, Ratchet," Venus said softly.

"You're not worried at all about this?" he said shrilly, motioning toward the Agorian. She looked puzzled from the visitor to the Lombax, then laughed and said, "What, him? That's just Cyrus. Don't worry, he's on our side."

The Agorian placed his right fist on his chest and greeted the Lombaxes. "I see you're feeling much better, Ratchet," he said. Finally allowing himself to calm down, Ratchet nodded to Cyrus. "Good. Come out as soon as you're ready." With that, the reptilian creature left the hut and waited for the two just outside the door.

"Think you can get up, Ratch?" Venus asked, standing up. He nodded. "Okay. Get your armor back on. Looks like I may have to explain a few things." The weary Lombax tilted his head curiously as she left the hut. Then, he saw the missing top half of his armor lying at the foot of the bed.

After replacing the armor, he staggered toward the door and pushed it open. In his current weakened state, it felt as if the simple wooden door weighed a ton. Venus and Cyrus looked back at him as he came out into the early morning sunshine. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes for a moment, then looked around. He appeared to be in a sort of makeshift camp with about two-dozen other small huts like the one from which he had just emerged. The races here were not limited to Agorians. There were also several Kerchu wandering around the site with their unusual armor mounted on their shoulders, as well as the occasional pirate. "Where the heck are we?" Ratchet asked.

"Base camp, sir, in the swamps of Cobalia," Cyrus replied. The two Lombaxes looked up at the towering Agorian. "It's not much, but for now, it's the best we can manage."

"Base camp for what?"

"Welcome to the Resistance, Ratchet," Venus said, placing an arm over his shoulders. "We're now a part of the Renegades. An order of warriors and battle technicians formed to rise up against Zarthon and the Shraalites." Many of the Renegades stopped in their tracks when they saw the two Lombaxes out in the open. "They may be of different races," she began, "but they all have one thing in common." He looked down at her curiously, and as she continued, she looked not at him, but at the individuals surrounding them. "Those monsters either hurt them or killed someone dear to them. We all have one common goal - to stop them before they can do any harm to any more galaxies."

"Unfortunately, our numbers at present are slim at best," Cyrus said. "Not many are brave enough to stand up to one as powerful as Zarthon…at least not yet."

"That's where we come in." Finally, Ratchet looked back at her. "We, along with Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr, are to try to recruit forces for the Resistance. They already left to get started. You and I have to go back to the Breegus System. Maybe we can find some more troops there. Come on." Ratchet and Cyrus both followed her to Atrion, who waited about twenty feet away. Once the cockpit opened and the two jumped inside, Venus looked back down at the Agorian, who stood still next to the ship. "Cyrus," she said. "I need you to keep everything in order while we're gone. We might not be back for a while, so be on the lookout for more Shraalites, got it?"

"Yes, Commander," he replied, saluting her.

"Commander?" said Ratchet with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't ask…" she replied. "They needed a replacement."

"Why?"

"One of the leviathans got hungry…" After that, the cockpit closed, and the ship blasted off into the sky.

* * *

Several days later…

"What?" shouted Zarthon, enraged at the news that his troop was bringing him. "Gathering an army?" The Shraalite captain stood up from his chair and slowly walked toward the troop, who remained stoic. "Are you sure?"

"Affirmative, Captain," the troop replied. "I heard it with my own ears. Ratchet and the Tigress have joined with the Renegades, and are now gathering more troops for the Resistance." Zarthon growled and turned away, walking toward the wall. Then, he clawed the metal in front of him, creating an ear-piercing screech. "We wouldn't have this problem," he began when he was finished, "if you worthless mutts had done your job properly and killed her little boyfriend!"

"Apologies, sir."

Zarthon was silent for a moment before he spoke to himself. "So this is how you want it, huh, Tigress? So be it! Two can play at this game!"

"Sir, what will you have us do?" Finally, the captain turned back to face the troop and smiled smugly. "She wants to play war, doesn't she?" he said. "We do exactly as she does… We're expanding our army."


	12. Chapter 12: A Last Stand

Several months had passed since Venus and Ratchet left for the Breegus System in a desperate attempt to recruit more troops for the Renegades. To their dismay, many of the people they had approached had already sold their loyalty to Zarthon in exchange for raritanium and bolts, and as such had tried to either capture them or kill them and claim the hefty reward on their heads. That didn't mean they had been unsuccessful - a decent number of individuals had joined them. The races ranged from Agorians to Terachnoids to even a few Grummels. Transport vessel after transport vessel had come and gone to take the new recruits to the Renegades' latest base camp on planet Sargasso.

Now, as Ratchet piloted the ship back to the overgrown primordial jungle, Venus stared out at the stars as they passed. She had told herself that she wouldn't be afraid, but now that the final battle was nearing, she found herself nearly paralyzed with fear. She had seen what the Shraalites could do and, more importantly, what the Shadow Hydra could do. She also dreaded at the thought that Zarthon had been building up his own army, and she knew that his was likely much larger than the Resistance.

After a while, she was jolted out of her thoughts when Ratchet gingerly placed his right hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him, a look of empathy on his face. "I know you're scared, Venus," he said reassuringly. "And frankly, you'd be insane if you weren't. But you can't let that stop you."

"I don't plan to," she replied in determination as she turned to look back at the stars. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity before she finally spoke again. "There's no doubt we're both at least a little scared right now… But there is one thing you should keep in mind, Ratchet." He turned to look at her as she did the same. "Without fear, there can be no courage. Just as without darkness, there can be no light."

"Words of wisdom, Venus," he said with a smile. "Words of wisdom."

The rest of their journey to Sargasso was made in silence. Only once they neared the planet did either one of them finally utter a sound. At the exact location the Renegades' base camp, there was a huge black and purple swirling mass, and it expanded with every passing second. "No…" Venus gasped. "The shadow. We may be too late to stop it…"

"I don't know about you," Ratchet began, speeding up. "but I refuse to believe that! I'm not giving up!"

"Then neither am I. Like I said before - I'm with you no matter what."

When the ship finally landed outside the base camp, the two couldn't believe their eyes. All that was once wild and beautiful was now dry and dead. Carcasses of the dinosaurian leviathans lay strewn about the cracked ground, many of them already in late stages of decay. From off in the distance, the roars of the Shraalites could be heard, as well as the bloodcurdling shrieks of the Shadow Hydra. Ratchet's expression of disbelief soon turned to one of pure rage, and Venus felt a tear make its way down her face.

"Venus, come on!" Ratchet said as he started forward. "Base camp's just over that hill!" She nodded, wiping the tear from her fur as she trailed behind him.

Both armies had set up camps on opposite side of a vast field. The two Lombaxes hadn't realized how many new forces they had recruited. Over the past months, the number of the Renegades had elevated from only a few dozen to several thousand. Terachnoids sat at communication stations at the back of the base camp. They would communicate with the troops as they fought, giving them any helpful advice they could. Near the Terachnoids, a large group of Vullards had set up repair stands, where they were already fixing up the many robotic troops, including a shocking number of pirates. Kerchu and Agorian warriors were working hard on preparing their weapons and armor, as were the multitude of Fongoids on the opposite side of the camp. Several dozen Agorians were working to keep the war groks under control. Talwyn and the two warbots had even managed to recruit some former gladiators from the days of Tachyon's rule, including Crushto and Zorthan. As they looked across the field, however, they saw that Zarthon's army was easily five times the size of the Resistance.

"This doesn't look good…" Ratchet said, still looking out at the scene.

"It isn't the number of warriors that win a war," Venus began, "but the spirit of the warriors that leads to victory." After that, he looked back at her, smiled determinedly, and nodded as they made their way down the hill.

As soon as they reached the edge of the camp, they were greeted by Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr. "There you two are!" Talwyn exclaimed. "Everything okay?"

"I'm not sure," Venus replied. "What's the situation?"

"Zarthon's troops are still pouring in. Looks like we're not the only ones who have been recruiting over the past few months. And the shadow's getting worse by the minute. If you guys are going to stop that thing, we'd better get moving as soon as possible."

"Right." Venus looked around, finding a large boulder at the front of the base camp. "Spread the word, you guys. Once everyone's finished preparing, have them meet over there, got it?" The three nodded and ran off to tell the other troops. "You," she said to Ratchet, who looked down at her. "You're coming with me." He followed behind her as she strode off to the boulder.

Once they scaled the oversized stone, they sat near its edge, Venus's legs crossed and Ratchet's feet dangling in the air. As he looked over at her, she appeared to be meditating - her eyes were closed and her breathing was deep as she seemed to forget everything that had happened in the past months and everything that was happening around her now.

After a while, he noticed many of the troops gathering in front of the boulder. "Looks like we're almost ready," he said. Finally, Venus opened her eyes and saw that he was right. Very few of the troops were still preparing themselves for battle. A look of determination on her face, she stood up on the boulder and spread her wings, staring contentedly at her followers. "Uh…Venus?" She looked back at him as he stood by her side. "What're you doing?"

"Just watch, Ratch," she replied as she turned back to the Renegades. "This is how you get an army revved up for battle."

Finally, as she began, the soft muttering of the crowd died down, and everyone listened intently to their commander. "My fellow Renegades," she called over the multitude. "You all know why we're here today." She then looked back at Zarthon's army across the field for a second, then back to her own and continued. "To stop a madman from making the worst mistake in the universe…to stop him from destroying it. As I look upon all of you now, I see the same fear that would break a lesser warrior…and the same fear that I, your commander, feel now. But I also see the courage to overcome that fear! Now, that kind of courage is extremely rare at best, but your being here is proof that it does exist, if only within the hearts of a select few." She then folded her wings at her sides. "It's that courage that will put a stop to this villain's plot."

Then, the troops began murmuring amongst themselves again. "That's right, Renegades!" the Lombax girl continued, catching their attention once more. "We will stop this monster and his followers! We will put an end to this madness! We will succeed in our mission, as long as we stand together! And throughout the battle that awaits us all, stand strong! And keep one thing tucked away in the backs of your minds: What doesn't break a hero will make a hero!" She lifted her sword high into the air above her and spread her wings as wide as she could. Her followers began clapping as she finished her speech. "Now let's fight for our universe back!" After that, she planted her sword hard into the boulder, sending huge ripples of purple light expanding over the masses. Now, they burst into boisterous cheering and clanging of weapons and armor.

"Impressive, Venus," Ratchet said, grinning as they looked over their forces. "Did you rehearse that?"

"Actually, that was off the top of my head," she replied with a chuckle. Then, the two heard something behind them. The rest of the battalion must have heard it as well, for at that exact moment, a hush fell over the crowd. As they looked toward Zarthon's army, they saw that it was rapidly approaching the Renegades' camp. Determination on her face, she turned back to her forces. "Okay, everyone! Battle stations!" They did as they were ordered, the Terachnoids returning to their communication stations and the Vullards returning to their repair stands. The rest of the troops stood behind the boulder, prepare to set out for battle. Venus and Ratchet turned to face the massive army as well. Raising her sword, Venus gave her command.

"Charge!"

With that, the soldiers ran at their enemies, weapons in their hands and fires in their hearts. The two Lombaxes watched for a moment as the armies finally met each other on the battlefield.

"Venus!" called Talwyn as she, along with Cronk and Zephyr, looked up at her from the ground. "That was some speech! You ever consider motivational speaking?"

"Can't say I have. What do you say we help out our troops? You guys radio me if you get into too much trouble, got it?"

"Got it. Good luck, you two." After that, the trio dashed after their comrades, ready to face the eminent challenge.

"What about us?" Ratchet said.

"You do what you want. I'm going after Zarthon and the Heart." She then loosed a shrill whistle, and after she did, Crushto came rushing to her side. "Watch your back out there, Ratch!" she called as she leapt onto the creature's back. "I'll radio you when I have the Heart!" He was about to object until Venus commanded her mount, "Heigh-ho, Crushto, away!" After that, the beast dashed headfirst into battle, going exactly where Venus had commanded him to.

"Oh, Venus!" Ratchet growled as he watched the two disappear into the mass of soldiers. He called for one of the war groks, which, to his surprise, came dashing up to him. "Please, don't eat me," he begged as he carefully climbed onto its back. It growled for a second, but soon settled down and awaited the Lombax's command. "After that mechanical…fish…thing!" he shouted. With that, the beast ran after Crushto and Venus.

He found the two staring at Zarthon, who, quite unexpectedly, stood alone before them. "You think you can stop me, Tigress," the Shraalite captain sneered, grasping the Heart in his right hand and a black blaster in his left. "You really are a fool."

"It may be a fool's errand," she began, "but that doesn't change the fact that you must be stopped!"

"Such a brave young Lombax. Too bad you joined the wrong side."

"Crushto!" After that, the beast fired several rockets toward the Shraalite, all of which were nonchalantly knocked away with a swipe of his hand. Then, a final rocket was knocked back into Crushto's mouth. Venus leapt off of him just as the explosive detonated inside of him - an instantly fatal blow. Zarthon laughed insanely as she looked back at the fallen creature. Then, she noticed a war grok running toward her with someone on its back…a very familiar silhouette.

"Venus!" Ratchet called down to her. "Get on! Quick!" She flew up onto the war grok's back. "Okay, big fella! Do your thing!" The grok roared menacingly, then slammed its immense fists on the ground, sending a violent shockwave toward Zarthon that knocked him over. It then ran closer to him to kill him, but before it got the chance, he shot at its chest using the black blaster. The shot burned right through the grok's chest, scorching its heart. The two Lombaxes jumped off its back just as it fell to the ground, limp and dead.

"You see, you fools! You cannot defeat me!" Venus held her sword in front of her, glowering at the maniacal monster that stood before them.

"This guy's tough," Ratchet said. "Maybe tougher than we thought."

"Then you'd better be ready for the fight of your life, hero." He then looked at her. Now, she looked more determined that ever. "I wasn't just talking to the other troops when I said we'll succeed if we stand together. I was talking to you, too." After that, he smiled and nodded."Well, isn't that sweet," Zarthon snickered.

Suddenly, Venus flew toward him and attempted to slash him across his chest, but he knocked her away the same way he had everything else. "Venus!" Ratchet cried as she crashed to the ground. She lay there for a moment before she staggered to her feet, using her sword as support. Ratchet then ran toward Zarthon as his attention was turned to the white Lombax, but his focus soon shifted, and he grabbed Ratchet by the neck and held him off the ground for what felt to him like forever before he finally threw him back. She looked back at him as he lay one his side, gasping for breath. Then, she glared back at her opponent. "You're nothing but a murderous monster!" she spat.

"A monster that knows something you don't," he chuckled, waving the blaster back and forth. She looked at the Shraalite confused as Ratchet finally propped himself up using his wrench. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Your necklace is working to protect you now, is it not?" She gasped and realized what he meant. It hadn't reacted to anything before. She didn't understand why it did now. "Would you like to know why it works now?" He turned his attention from the white Lombax to her partner, still in pain on the ground behind her. "It's love," Zarthon sneered, almost as if it killed him to utter the very word. Both the Lombaxes' ears perked up. "The sweet, sickening kind you see on reruns of holovision soap operas." Venus sighed and looked down at the ground, and then at Ratchet. "Is that…" he began. "Is that true, Venus?"

She didn't say anything. Her ears drooped down against the back of her head as he struggled to his feet and limped over to her, staring in disbelief at her.

"Bah!" the Shraalite roared. "Sickening! All of it, nauseating!" They looked back at him, Venus stepping in front of Ratchet with her wings spread. "Maybe to you," she growled. "But you'll never know what you're missing." Zarthon's gaze finally softened a little. "You'll never know love or friendship. And for that, I pity you."

His rage seemed to be more intense now than it had been ever before. "You have the gall to pity me?" he roared. "You will regret coming here, you fools! Lord of the Shadows! Come to me!" Once again, from the black hole, a mass of dark matter appeared, and from the dark matter, the Shadow Hydra emerged, surrounded by the energy. Zarthon climbed up onto the Hydra's back as it emitted a shriek that echoed for miles. Any remaining soldiers on the battlefield instantly stopped and stared as the creature sent out bursts of dark energy.

To Venus's surprise, her sword began glowing intensely, which in this case was something she had not intended. When she didn't do anything for a moment, Ratchet exclaimed, "What are you waiting for?" then took the sword and swiped it in the air the way he had seen her do time and time again. A razor-sharp wave of purple energy flew toward the Hydra's neck, severing its head from its body. The monstrous creature fell flaccidly to the ground.

"There," he said, handing the sword back to her. She stared at him in disbelief. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"Ratchet, do you have any idea what you just did?" she shouted.

"Yeah. I just killed a hydra."

"No, you didn't!" She firmly grabbed his shoulders and said, "If anything, you've made it worse!"

Suddenly, the headless body of the Hydra got to its feet. What remained of its neck split in half, and where there was once one head, there were now two that glared down at them. "Uh-oh…" was all Ratchet could utter as Zarthon burst into laughter.

"Don't you know anything about mythology? You never cut the head off a hydra! If you do, two grow back!" Both heads shrieked loudly as Zarthon looked down at them. "Very good, Tigress," he said.

"So how are we supposed to kill this thing?" Ratchet shouted. Then, a strangely familiar multitude of voices could be heard. "You are not," they said. "But perhaps we can assist you in containing it." Just then, the bead around her neck began glowing in a wide spectrum of colors. From within the bead burst five large orbs of light - one yellow, one blue, one red, one green, and one white. The yellow and blue orbs floated on the Lombaxes' left side, while the red and green ones floated to their right, and the white behind them. Suddenly, all five of them exploded into a fantastic flurry of light particles, revealing the four guardians and the Dragon Leviathan. Finally, the Hydra ceased its shrieking and stared almost in fear at the five.

"What do you mean, 'contain it?'" Venus asked.

"I told you before, Miss Carapell," the Leviathan began. "The Shadow Hydra cannot die. In order to quell the wrath of this beast, I would need to contain it within something…and entrust it to someone whom I would entrust the universe." Her ears stood straight as she realized what the Leviathan was saying. "You fit the bill, Venus. I entrust you with the safety of the universe, at least for as long as you shall live. Do you accept this?" She thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Good." Then, it looked toward the four guardians and said, "Let us begin."

The bird flew upward, hovering above the Hydra and flapping its wings to create a strong whirlwind around it. With a flick of its tail, the serpent summoned a whirlpool of water from the ground, which joined with the whirlwind. After that, the dragon quickly flew over the Hydra's head, blasting a jet of fire down upon it that created a second whirlwind within the first, thanks to the wind created by the bird. Then, the wolf howled plaintively, summoning plants and stone from the earth to join the cyclone. And finally, after gathering its power, the Leviathan threw its head to the sky and expelled a mighty roar. From its body, countless tendrils of light shot into the cyclone and bound themselves to the Hydra's body. The shadow monster jerked violently around in an attempt to escape, which only amounted to Zarthon being thrown off its back and onto the ground about ten feet away. Soon, the other four elements bound themselves to the Hydra's body as well. In an instant, it disappeared into a ball of purple light that swirled with the colors of the guardians as it flew reluctantly into Venus's bead, which turned dark for a second, but then returned to normal.

Zarthon tried to get up from where he lay on the ground, but before he could, the Leviathan pinned him down with an immense foot, allowing Venus and Ratchet to stroll up to him without worry. "I'll just be taking that, thank you," Venus said, taking the Heart from Zarthon's right hand.

"No," he gasped in defeat. "No! You worthless mutts! You've ruined everything!" He was about to spit more choice words at them, but before he could, the Leviathan wrapped a tentacle around him. "I really hate to do this to you, Zarthon," it said. "but you are too much of a risk to the future of this universe." After that, it tossed him into the swirling black hole above them. He screamed loudly as it swallowed him.

The Leviathan and the four guardians all looked at the two Lombaxes. "I'm afraid this is all the help we can offer you. The rest is up to you." They then suddenly seemed to evaporate into the air. "Great," Ratchet said. "So, now what?"

Suddenly, the ground began to quake, and the lightning grew more intense, breaking holes into the earth as it struck down. Venus looked down in desperation at the Heart and saw that it wasn't reacting at all. "No!" she said, looking back up as the darkness around the grew stronger. "We're too late! We can't stop it!" She turned her attention to him, and he stared intently at her. For a moment, it seemed like there was nothing in the universe except for them.

Then, the tremors grew stronger. The shadow began descending upon them. Just as the darkness enveloped them, Venus pulled Ratchet closer to her. For a moment that seemed to last forever, they shared a kiss. Afterwards, the two held tightly to each other, waiting for the end to come.

All was silent. All that could be heard was Venus's whispering voice echoing through the darkness.

"I love you."

To their surprise, nothing happened. After a few minutes, Venus's eyes finally fluttered open. She noticed something - a bright light piercing through the darkness. She looked down and saw the Heart of the Dragon Leviathan glowing brilliantly in her hand. "Ratchet," she said. He, too, opened his eyes to find the brilliant light emitting from the gem. They finally released each other and examined it. "What's happening?" Ratchet wondered. Then, he reached out and touched a finger to it.

When he did, a fountain of beautiful white light spouted from the gem, and it levitated out of Venus's hand to float just between the two. A multiplicity of voices could be heard whispering, "When two hearts become one, the shadow's curse will be undone." After that, a blinding light surrounded them. They held each other close again and waited to see what would happen.

After several long minutes, the light finally faded, and the Heart was gone. Along with it, the shadow had disappeared, and the damage done to the planet had been reversed. The leviathans that lay dead on the ground before now roamed the land again. Everything was green and alive. The two Lombaxes looked around in awe at their surroundings. "How is this possible?" he asked. Venus looked thoughtful for a moment, but was brought out of her thoughts when the apparitions of the four guardians and the Leviathan appeared before them.

"Well done, you two," the Leviathan said with a warm smile.

"I don't understand," Venus said.

"Do you know what that inscription meant?" They thought about it for a second, then finally understood and looked back up at it. "There is only one force in this universe stronger than spirit…love. True love conquers all, time and space alike. A love like that never really dies."

"So…that's what stopped the shadow?"

"Combined with the power of a heart of gold," It looked at Ratchet. "and a shimmering silver spirit." It then looked at Venus. "And the power of the Heart. You have done well, my dear Lombaxes. For now, your work is done." After that, the bird, serpent, dragon, and Leviathan all disappeared into bright beams of light that shot off into the sky, each one going back to where it came from. The wolf stayed for a moment and walked up to the two.

"My dearest Venus," it said, looking at her with such love and affection in its eyes that it almost brought tears to her own. "I am so very proud of you. I know your mother is watching over you even now, and I am certain she's just as proud as I am. I'm honored to call myself your guardian." Once that was said, it became cloaked in a green light that immediately sunk down into the ground.

"Ratchet! Venus!" they heard a voice shout. They turned to find Talwyn and the two warbots dashing toward them. "You guys did it!" she exclaimed joyfully. "What's even more, you've reversed the damage already done! We're already getting transmissions from Kerchu City. It's like the Shraalite invasion never even happened!" As they looked around, they saw the Renegades taking every one of Zarthon's forces away as they cheered gleefully.

"Way to go, rookies!" Zephyr laughed. "Everything's back to normal!"

Ratchet's ears drooped as he spoke. "Not everything…" he sighed. Venus embraced him comfortingly, resting her head on his shoulder as he held her. He looked up at the sky as he thought to himself.

_Nothing will ever be the same again…at least, not without you…_


End file.
